Thoughts Revealed
by A Thousand Undiscovered Stars
Summary: The Cullens get a look into Bella's mind as they read the Twilight series. AU: Bella was changed after Eclipse and Eclipse has been altered. Bella and Edward are NOT together. This story is set four years after Twilight. How will the Cullens react to discovering Bella's most private thoughts? All Vampire.
1. Preface

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all material from the Twilight Saga! I'm only borrowing it!**

**A/N: Yes, I realize that I'm am already in the middle of writing three other stories and should not even be considering starting a new one, but I can't help it! I just can't get this out of my mind, so I'm giving in and starting a fourth story. Don't worry, the others will be finished. It's just going to take a little longer. :D Anyway, here we go!**

**Chapter One: The Preface**

Bella

"Bella!" I just returned from a hunting trip and Alice is already yelling for me. Oh, no.

I blurred into the living room where the rest of the family, including my incredible mate, were gathered around a small box. "What's up, Ali?" I asked her curiously and pointed to the box.

"Charlie dropped this off earlier. He said that it was in the top of your closet?" she asked and my eyes widened. Uh oh. I have a feeling that I know what's in that box.

I slowly go over and open it up, with everyone peering over my shoulder as I do so. Damn. I was right. I pick up one of the objects and Emmett decides to point out the obvious. "That's a book," he says, sounding confused and we all chuckle at him.

"Yes, Emmett, it's a book. Very good," I tease him and he pouts.

Alice takes the book from my hands and reads off the title. "Twilight," she says before humming. "I've never heard of it and it doesn't have an author's name listed on it," she said while frowning.

I sigh and run my hand through my hair while my family looks at me curiously. "That's because those are the only three in existence," I say truthfully.

"What do you mean, Bella?" Jasper asks and I frown a little.

"I mean… I wrote them. About my time here in Forks when I was human. I wrote down everything," I confess and they all appear shocked before Emmett grins.

"Okay, now we have to read them!" he booms out and the rest of us look at him before excitedly (or in my case reluctantly) agreeing.

I sigh once more, shaking my head as everyone takes seats around the room. I can't help but think that this is a very bad idea, but I feel a little bit better when I feel a pair of warm arms wrap around me. I automatically smile a little as I turn to my mate, who leans in and kisses my forehead in a soothing way. I hum. "Thank you," I say softly as I reach up and push one of her blond locks away from her face.

Rosalie smiles at me. "Anytime. I can't believe that I didn't know about this," she says wonderingly and she has a point. Rose knows everything about me, and vice versa – everything but this.

I give a wry smile. "Well, I guess that's about to change. So, who's going to read first?" I question and everyone exchanges glances.

Alice decides to answer as she tosses me the book. "I think that you should," she declares and everyone murmurs their agreement, giving me their full attention.

I shake my head once more. "All right," I consent before I start reading.

**Preface**

**I'd never given much thought to how I would die – though I'd had reason enough these past few months – but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.**

**I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.**

**Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.**

**I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks, I wouldn't be facing death right now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.**

**The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me.**

I looked up as I finished reading and I could plainly see the shock and sadness on the faces of my family, particularly Rosalie who appeared anguished by my words.

We sat in silence until they seemed to snap out of it and Edward spoke. "Well, I always did want to know what you were thinking. I guess I'm finally getting my wish," he said ironically and I gave him a small smile. Edward and I may not be mates as we originally thought, but he's still a good friend to me just as Emmett is a good friend to Rosalie. And well, Edward and Emmett are _very _good friends to each other if you know what I mean.

I laugh softly. "I guess you are. Rosalie," I turn to her and offer her the book in my hands. "Would you like to read next?" I ask and she nods.

"How many chapters are there in this book, Bella?" Esme asks concernedly, no doubt upset from the reminder of what happened with James back then.

I pause for a moment. "I think there are about 25, including the epilogue," I say and they all seem somewhat surprised before turning to my mate. "Go ahead, Rose," I say encouragingly and she turns the page before reading, revealing a little bit more of the true inner workings of my mind with every word.

**A/N: Well, what do you think? Yes, Rosalie and Bella are mates. Yes, I know that this has been done before. Either way, I just couldn't seem to help myself. So, I hope you enjoy it!**

**- Ashe**


	2. First Sight

**Chapter Two: First Sight**

Rosalie

I can't believe that Bella actually wrote all of this down, and I never knew about it. I shook my head a little as I focused my attention on the book in my hands. "Chapter 1. First Sight," I began.

**My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt-sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.**

I stopped as I was interrupted by a low growl. "You wore a parka?" Alice demanded and Bella pouted, lowering her head slightly though I could see the humor in her eyes.

"It won't happen again, Alice, I promise," my mate tried to appease her and it seemed to work, although that might have been due to Jasper's gift.

Alice hesitated with a small frown playing across her face. "Fine," she pouted and we all laughed. Crazy little pixie.

**In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. **

Carlisle let out a chuckle at hearing that. "And that is the exact reason that it's such a good home for our family," he said smiling. It was true. We couldn't exactly live somewhere sunny, like Phoenix – not unless we wanted to have to explain to everyone why we were sparkling in the sunlight, that is.

Bella shook her head and smiled. "True, but for a human who had spent her entire life living somewhere that was very hot and dry..." she trailed off and I chuckled before going on.

**It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead. It was to Forks that I now exiled myself— an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks. I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.**

**"Bella," my mom said to me — the last of a thousand times — before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."**

**My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…**

Esme frowned at that. "Bella..." she trailed off, obviously unsure how to go on. I was in a similar predicament. It worried me to think that Bella had had to grow up so quickly, but Bella just shook her head.

"It's okay. I didn't mind," she laughed lightly. "I actually kind of enjoyed it," she admitted and I couldn't help but smile. Bella was always so selfless; it never ceased to amaze me. Esme smiled softly, seeming appeased.

**"I **_**want **_**to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.**

**"Tell Charlie I said hi."**

**"I will."**

**"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want — I'll come right back as soon as you need me."**

**But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.**

**"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom." She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.**

**It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.**

Emmett boomed out a laugh. "So, you can handle a plane ride but not a little conversation with your own father?" he asked, wearing a fake-disapproving look.

Bella rolled her eyes. "We just never really had anything to talk about, but there were hardly ever any awkward silences. There was just nothing to say," she shrugged.

**Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.**

**But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision— like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.**

**When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen — just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.**

Jasper laughed at that one. "I'm guessing that you didn't realize quite how accurate that statement was?" he teased and Bella nodded, laughing along with the rest of us.

**Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the** **good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop. Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.**

**"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me. "You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"**

**"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.**

Esme frowned and nodded. "Good," she stated.

**I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.**

Alice's face became horrified as she stared at Bella, who turned to looked at me quickly. "Hurry up and keep reading," she said, her voice saturated with panic – and for good reason. Alice loved fashion and Bella might as well have just destroyed Alice's closet, she looked so appalled.

**"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.**

**"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car **_**for you" **_**as opposed to just "good car."**

**"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."**

**"Where did you find it?"**

**"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.**

**"No."**

**"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.**

**That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.**

**"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."**

**"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.**

**"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years old, really." I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"**

Emmett chuckled. "Stubborn as always..."

**"He bought it in 1984, I think."**

**"Did he buy it new?"**

**"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.**

**"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"**

**"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."**

_**The thing**_**, I thought to myself… it had possibilities — as nickname, at the very least.**

I shuddered as I read that. I hated that truck, if you could even call it that. But I knew better than to voice my distaste around Bella. Besides, the horrifying piece of scrap metal was gone now, anyway. I smirked a little. I almost expected Edward to chuckle at my thought before I remembered. Bella always shielded my mind now, so that Edward couldn't read my thoughts. And it definitely came in handy, I thought smugly.

**"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.**

**"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.**

**Wow. Free.**

**"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."**

**"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.**

**"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." **

**No need to add that my being happy in Forks is an impossibility. He didn't need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth —or engine.**

**"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.**

**We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for conversation. We stared out the windows in silence. It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. **

**Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with**

**moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves. It was too green — an alien planet.**

Everyone turned to look at Bella and I raised one eyebrow at my mate. "And exactly what planet do you come from and what color is it?" I asked playfully with a smirk hovering on my lips.

Bella rolled her eyes and leaned forward kiss me quickly, wiping the smirk off my face. "Just keep reading," she said while Esme smiled at the two of us and Emmett and Edward linked hands and smiled at each other. Yeah, that caught everyone by even more surprise than me and Bella's relationship. But, in a way, it was sweet – not that I'd ever admit it out loud.

**Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had — the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new — well, new to me — truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise, I loved it. I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of** **those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged — the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.**

**"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!"**

We all shuddered in horror. "I can't believe that you actually love that... that _thing,"_ I said, nearly as horrified as Alice had been at Bella's choice of clothing.

Bella glared but remained silent this time. Inside I was smug. She would have immediately snapped at anyone else who said what I did, but she was more tolerant with me. Thank goodness, because Bella had a temper sometimes and I would rather not have it directed at me... Then again, if she was mad at someone _else _then I was the lucky person who got to calm her down. And I definitely had fun with that... I shivered just thinking about it.

**Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.**

**"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.**

**It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs.** **I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window — these were all a part of my** **childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch** **easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.**

I smiled. I liked hearing things about Bella's childhood, although I was sad that I would never have a baby of my own. Still, I had Bella and that was infinitely more than enough for me. I scooted a little closer to my beautiful brunette mate as I resumed reading.

**There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.**

All of the girls shuddered at that. That would be... Terrible. Just terrible.

**One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn't hover. He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.**

I frowned at the thought of my mate in pain and Esme also appeared upset. Bella reached over and wrapped an arm around me. "Sh... It's okay," she cooed quietly in my ear and I relaxed.

**Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven — now fifty-eight —students;** **there were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together — their grandparents had been toddlers together. I would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak. Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I **_**should **_**be tan, sporty, blond — a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps —all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.**

I frown. "I like you just the way you are," I state, ignoring the 'aww's from Alice and Esme.

Bella chuckled lowly. "Thank you," she murmured.

**Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself — and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close.**

Emmett laughed loudly at that. "I'm still disappointed that I never got to see you in Gym," he teased but Bella just rolled her eyes and ignored him, even though she was smiling.

**When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty — it was very clear, almost translucent-looking — but it all depended on color. I had no color here. Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?**

Jasper laughed quietly. "Apparently they were fairly good," he commented and we all happily agreed with him.

**I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period. Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on exactly the same page. Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.**

**But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning. **

**I didn't sleep well that night, even after I was done crying.** **The constant **_**whooshing **_**of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the faded old quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.**

Alice frowned. "You really didn't have the best start here, did you?" she asked and we all knew that she wasn't referring just to that night.

Bella smiled serenely. "It worked out in the end," she said, smiling at me and I felt a rush of warmth for her.

**Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.**

**Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me. **

Edward laughed at that. "Too true," he said smiling wryly as we all remembered various occurrences that could only have happened to Bella.

**Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed. My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring** **some sunshine into the house. **

**Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of my school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at — I would have to see what I could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, at least while I was living here. It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.**

I laughed. "He seems to have gotten over it," I stated, thinking of his marriage to Sue Clearwater.

**I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket —which had the feel of a biohazard suit — and headed out into the rain. It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door, and locked up. The sloshing of my new waterproof** **boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I couldn't pause and admire my truck again as I wanted; I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood.**

I felt my mouth open slightly. She actually wanted to _admire _the scrap metal... I shook my head quickly.

**Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint. The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. **

"Hmph," Emmett snorted. "One flaw?" he asked skeptically and Bella growled at him.

"Shut up, Emmett!" she snapped.

**The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn't expected. Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was**

**the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?**

We all burst out laughing. "Only Bella would actually want her school to feel like a prison," Edward teased lightly and even Bella had to smile at that one.

**I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.**

**Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed. The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"**

**"I'm Isabella Swan," I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. I was expected, atopic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.**

I laughed. "Yes, you were certainly expected," I agreed and Bella grimaced.

**"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show me.**

**She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and hoped, like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.**

"So, not very convincingly?" Emmett asked teasingly and we all chuckled. Bella really was a terrible liar.

**When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley** **District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out.**

**Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to me.**

**I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me.**

Everyone laughed but I nearly growled, thinking about just how close Edward came to killing my Bella that day.

**I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck.** **I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief. Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. I felt my breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.**

**The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here. **

"Nope, but ours certainly is," Carlisle chuckled.

**I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response — and of course I flushed tomato red. But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed. I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Faulkner. I'd already read everything. That was comforting… and boring. I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. **

All of the us "kids" grinned at that. "That definitely cuts down on the amount of time that even we have to spend on homework," I agreed while Esme and Carlisle frowned at us.

**I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on. When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.**

**"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"**

**He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.**

**"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.**

**"Where's your next class?" he asked.**

**I had to check in my bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."**

**There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.** **"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Eric," he added.**

**I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."**

**We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.**

**"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.**

**"Very."**

"Gee, what gave him that idea?" Alice asked sarcastically.

**"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"**

**"Three or four times a year."**

**"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.**

**"Sunny," I told him.**

**"You don't look very tan."**

**"My mother is part albino."**

**He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix.**

I chuckled. "Not really," I agreed.

**A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.**

**We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.**

I frowned and moved closer to my mate. I hated that pathetic little weasel.

**"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.**

**I smiled at him vaguely and went inside. The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated, anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in** **front of the class and introduce myself. I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.**

We couldn't keep ourselves from bursting into laughter at that. It was several moments before Jasper got us calmed down enough to continue.

**After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never needed the map.**

**One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she** **prattled about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.**

Edward grimaced. "Jessica Stanley," he shuddered and we all grinned as we thought of what he must have heard in her thoughts. What can I say? It was funny.

**We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me.** **The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.**

**It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.**

My siblings and I grinned. We were finally going to get to hear what Bella thought when she first saw us. I was a little bit anxious, though. I wanted to know what she thought of me then.

**They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room.** **There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention. They didn't look anything alike.**

Carlisle appeared as shocked as the rest of us as he spoke. "I knew that you were observant, but I can't believe that you noticed so much in such a short amount of time," he murmured in awe.

**Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. **

"Yes! You noticed me, first!" Emmett yelled as he threw his hands in the air.

**Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. **

Alice smiled as she looked at her mate.

**The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.**

Emmett chuckled as we all grinned – all except Edward. "There you are Eddie _Boy_," he emphasized as he teased his mate.

**The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the **_**Sports Illustrated **_**swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on herself-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back.**

I couldn't help the gratified smile that came across my features as I turned to hug Bella. "Thank you," I whispered in her ear. I may be incredibly vain but it meant a lot to me to know that Bella found me so beautiful.

**The short girl was pixie like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.**

Alice grinned before pouting. "I assume that's supposed to be a compliment," she said and Bella chuckled.

"Yes, Alice, it's a compliment. You just appeared so alive," Bella shrugged and our sister beamed.

"Thank you, Bella!"

**And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruise like shadows. As if they were all**

**suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, and angular. But all this is not why I couldn't look away.**

We were all shocked. "You were so perceptive..." Esme trailed off wonderingly.

**I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel.**

**It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful —**

**maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy.**

Bella smiled at me adoringly. "Now, I can say that you are without doubt the most beautiful," she said quietly and I was filled with a sense of love and security.

I kissed her softly. "Thank you," I said, hearing Alice and Esme coo at us in the background.

**They were all looking away — away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray — unopened soda, unbitten apple — and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. **

Alice's mouth fell open a little. "You really noticed all that?" she asked and Bella shrugged and nodded as if it were no big deal.

**I watched,** **amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.**

**"Who are **_**they**_**?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten. As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly**

**he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine. He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. **

**In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest — it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer. My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.**

Edward chuckled. "You're right. That's exactly what happened," he agreed.

**"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen;** **they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.**

**I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.**

We all shook our heads but no one said anything this time. We knew that she was perceptive but we didn't realize that she noticed _everything_.

**Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue**

**here — small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.**

**"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.**

**"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all **_**together **_**though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they **_**live **_**together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.**

**"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"**

**"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales **_**are **_**brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."**

**"They look a little old for foster children."**

Jasper and I chuckled. "You have no idea," we said together and then grinned at each other. We had been playing twins for so long now that we pulled it off effortlessly at this point.

**"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."**

**"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."**

Carlisle and Esme smiled at Bella for her kindness although she didn't know them at that point.

**"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his** **wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy. **

"Yep," Jasper agreed.

**"I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.**

Everyone else frowned at Jessica's words, but Esme went to Bella and hugged her. "Thank you, darling," she said sincerely before returning to her seat.

**Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.**

**"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.**

**"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."**

**I felt a surge of pity, and relief. **

Jasper chuckled. "I remember that. I couldn't understand it at the time."

**Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.**

**As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.**

Edward sighed. "It was so frustrating not to know what you were thinking."

Bella laughed and stuck out her tongue at him.

**"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression. **

Esme frowned at Edward's lack of proper manners.

**I looked down again.**

**"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.**

Edward grimaced. "Many, many times." We all laughed at that.

**I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too. After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful —**

**even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.**

**I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately**

**reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, we entered the classroom, and Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.**

Edward and Bella both frowned and I wondered why. I knew that their first meeting didn't exactly go well, but I didn't know any of the specifics.

**As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious.**

"Edward!" I growled but Bella held me tightly.

"Sh... It's alright, Rose," she soothed me and Edward lowered his head a little.

"I truly am sorry," he apologized and I calmed down and nodded. I knew that he meant it; I just didn't like the thought of him being so close to killing my mate.

**I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table.**

**The girl sitting there giggled.**

**I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black.**

**Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by **_**him**_**, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given** **me. I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. **

I smiled wryly at that. Really, it was the exact opposite.

**Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.**

**Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down. I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his**

**pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.**

Edward and Emmett frowned at the word "brother". I smirked. I really couldn't believe that none of us had noticed that they were mates before.

**The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought. It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.**

**I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase **_**if looks could kill**_** suddenly ran through my mind.**

We all frowned at that, except for Bella who just shook her head.

**At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly heroes — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.**

Esme sighed. She remembered that this was the day that Edward left. He came back, yes, but still...

**I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.**

I frowned at that. I never liked to hear or see Bella cry – well, dry sob that is.

**"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.**

**I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.**

Everyone but Carlisle and Esme groaned. "Mike," I sneered the word.

**"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.**

**"I'm Mike."**

**"Hi, Mike."**

**"Do you need any help finding your next class?"**

**"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."**

**"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.**

"Really," I agreed.

**We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today. But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what?**

We all laughed at that. As if it would do any good.

**I've never seen him act like that." I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that **_**wasn't **_**Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.**

**"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.**

**"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."**

**"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."**

**"He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."**

**I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation. The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class.**

**At home, only two years of RE. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth. I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained— and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated.**

Emmett laughed loudly. "I miss that side of you," he boomed happily.

**The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.**

**When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.**

I growled lowly but went on.

**Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.**

**He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time.**

**I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.**

I glared at Edward and he appeared apologetic, so I just shook my head and frowned.

**The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare** **at me — his face was absurdly handsome — with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind.**

**He turned back to the receptionist.**

**"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out thedoor. I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.**

**"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.**

"Not so great," I muttered and everyone else nodded in agreement.

**"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.**

**When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest** **thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life.**

**I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there.**

Bella wrapped her arms around me to calm me down as I began growling once more. "Hush, it's okay. I'm fine," she soothed and eventually I calmed down.

Edward frowned. "I really am sorry, Bella," he apologized and Bella smiled.

"It's okay," she waved him off. "So, who wants to read next?" she asked, taking the book from me and raising one eyebrow.

Esme smiled. "I will," she said and caught the book when Bella tossed it at her.

I shook my head a little. I was thinking about my own reaction to Bella that day. I found it hard to believe how cruel I was to Bella for so long...

"Hey," Bella said into my ear, quietly enough that only I would hear it. "Don't feel bad. I don't blame you, and we're together now. That's all that matters," she said softly and I smiled.

"Thank you," I whispered, leaning over to kiss her for a moment. I wanted to deepen the kiss, but I also wanted to keep reading the book so I reluctantly pulled back.

"Go ahead, Esme," I smiled and she nodded.

"Chapter Two: Open Book," she read.

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: Alright, there's chapter two. :) Review and let me know what you think!**

**- Ashe**


	3. Open Book

**Chapter Three: Open Book**

Esme

I looked down at the book in my hands. "**Chapter Two. Open Book,**" I read. This was strange, reading about Edward and Bella's relationship when both of them were with other people now. But that's the way it should be. It was clear, now, that Rosalie and Bella, as well as Emmett and Edward, were always meant to be together. Still, it was nice, and I had a feeling that it was going to give our entire family a new appreciation for my newest daughter.

**The next day was better… and worse.**

"Better and worse?" Jasper questioned wryly, lifting one eyebrow. Bella just rolled her eyes and motioned for me to read.

**It was better because it wasn't raining yet, though the clouds were dense and opaque. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English, and walked me to my next class, with Chess Club Eric glaring at him all the while; that was nattering. People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a big group at lunch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose names and faces I now remembered. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.**

Both Bella and I shivered at those words and Carlisle wrapped his arms around me. I saw Rosalie do the same thing with Bella, murmuring quietly in her ear so that only the two of them could hear. I gave my mate a grateful glance and continued reading.

**It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn't sleep with the wind echoing around the house. It was worse because Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable because I had to play volleyball, and the one time I didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it.**

We all chuckled a little bit at that.

**And it was worse because Edward Cullen wasn't in school at all.**

**All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. I made the Cowardly Lion look like the terminator.**

**But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica — trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely — I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them.**

I sighed a little. That was when Edward left us to go to Alaska. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward give an apologetic smile and I shook my head. _It's okay. I just missed you,_ I thought to my son and he nodded.

**Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chatter, I was terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. I hoped that he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false. He didn't come, and as time passed I grew more and more tense.**

**I walked to Biology with more confidence when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by my side to class.**

All of the kids laughed at the comparison.

"Bella," I scolded, though I was barely containing my own laughter and Carlisle was shaking silently by my side. The young brunette simply grinned unapologetically, knowing that I found it just as funny as the rest of them had.

**I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and went to my seat. Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach.**

**He lingered by my desk till the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful; I had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.**

"No one ever asked you out in Phoenix?" Rosalie asked her mate curiously, with a touch of shock in her voice. I had to admit that it surprised me as well. Bella was stunning, even as a human, despite the fact that she couldn't see it herself. With her ivory skin, long mahogany hair, and deep chocolate brown eyes I was stunned that she had never been in a relationship before coming to Forks.

Bella smiled a little and shook her head. "Nope," she said succinctly, shrugging her shoulders. I could see that it was no big deal to her, but still...

**I was relieved that I had the desk to myself, that Edward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.**

Edward half-smiled. "I am sorry about that," he apologized but Bella smiled and waved his apology away, demonstrating that she had obviously forgiven him long ago if she was ever mad at him for it in the first place.

**When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, I changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment. I walked swiftly out to the parking lot. It was crowded now with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my bag to make sure I had what I needed.**

**Last night I'd discovered that Charlie couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon. So I requested that I be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of my stay. He was willing enough to hand over the keys to the banquet hall. I also found out that he had no food in the house. So I had my shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labeled FOOD MONEY, and I was on my way to the Thriftway. **

**I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned in my direction, and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, trying to pretend that the earsplitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. I hadn't noticed their clothes before **— **I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. **

Alice smiled happily, pleased that Bella could at least distinguish the difference designer and non-designer clothes.

**With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. **

Alice's pleased look crumbled into an expression of horror while her mouth worked soundlessly, shaping words that seemed like "dish rags" and "never".

**It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.**

**No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.**

Carlisle looked at our daughter thoughtfully. "So perceptive..." he murmured, his eyes sparkling as he took in all of this new information. I shook my head indulgently. I loved my mate, but sometimes he was a little _too _curious.

**They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, just like everyone else. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free of the school grounds.**

**The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. **

I frowned a little. It still bothered me how much responsibility that Bella had to deal with at such a young age. Still, she had told me before that she really didn't mind, so I would try to let it go for now.

**The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.**

**When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever I could find an open space. I hoped Charlie wouldn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.**

**When I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a pony-tail, and checked my e-mail for the first time. I had three messages. **

**"Bella," my mom wrote…**

**Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi. **

**Mom.**

My mouth opened a little as I quickly and silently reread that paragraph. I raised one eyebrow slightly, but said nothing. Who doesn't even know where their own clothes are?

**I sighed and went to the next. It was sent eight hours after the first.**

**"Bella," she wrote…**

**Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for? **

**Mom.**

**The last was from this morning.**

**Isabella,**

Emmett frowned. "Why do mothers always call you by your full first name when you're in trouble?" he complained and we all chuckled at him.

"Emmett, I always call you by your first name," I said with a gentle smile on my face as I looked at my dark-haired son.

He frowned. "Yeah, but when you're mad at me, you use my whole name," he pointed out and I just laughed lightly before turning back to the book.

**If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling Charlie.**

**I checked the clock. I still had an hour, but my mom was well known for jumping the gun.**

**Mom,**

**Calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash.**

**Bella.**

**I sent that, and began again.**

**Mom,**

**Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about.**

**School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch.**

**Your blouse is at the dry cleaners - you were supposed to pick it up Friday.**

**Charlie bought me a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for me.**

**I miss you, too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five minutes. Relax, breathe. I love you.**

**Bella.**

**I had decided to read **_**Wuthering Heights **_— **the novel we were currently studying in English — yet again for the fun of it, and that's what I was doing when Charlie came home. I'd lost track of the time, and I hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in to broil.**

**"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.**

**Who else? I thought to myself. "Hey, Dad, welcome home."**

**"Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as I bustled about the kitchen. As far as I was aware, he'd never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready.**

**When I came here as a child, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.**

I swallowed at that last sentence and Rosalie frowned, holding Bella closer to her. "Did he take them out when we were gone?" Rose asked quietly and we were all silent.

Bella paused for a moment as if deciding whether or not to answer. "Yes," she responded equally quietly, pulling her mate closer and purring softly to comfort her.

I shuddered before forcing myself to focus on the page before me.

**"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember that far back.**

**"Steak and potatoes," I answered, and he looked relieved.**

**He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way. I made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table.**

**I called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.**

**"Smells good, Bell."**

**"Thanks."**

**We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. **

**Neither of us was bothered by the quiet. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.**

**"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.**

**"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.**

**"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid — nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."**

**"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.**

Edward appeared surprised. "You asked about us?" he questioned and Bella nodded.

**"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."**

**"They… the kids… are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."**

**Charlie surprised me by looking angry.**

**"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him — lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should — camping trips every other weekend… Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."**

Everyone but Bella was stunned speechless. Charlie didn't seem like the type to say such things unless he was quite passionate about them or truly believed what he was saying. So, for him to defend us like that...

"Your father is a great man, Bella," I said softly and she nodded.

"Yes, my father is a great man. They both are, actually," she said, grinning, and Carlisle's eyes lit up. I knew how much it meant to him for her to refer to him as her father, especially since Charlie was still alive. It made him feel good that Bella accepted him as her father just as much as Charlie was her father.

**It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.**

**I backpedaled. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," I added, trying to be more complimentary.**

"Some more than others," Bella spoke quietly into Rosalie's ear and the latter smiled softly at the praise.

**"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."**

I growled softly. I may be the mother figure and one of the most tame members of the family, but I am still extremely possessive of my mate, as are all vampires.

I turned and kissed Carlisle quickly before leaning towards his ear. "Mine," I breathed, so that only he could hear and leaned back. His eyes were now amber instead of the golden butterscotch that they were before as he nodded and pulled me closer to him.

**We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand — no dishwasher — I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making. That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.**

**The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stayed out of their way.**

**Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.**

**Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without him. Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Beaches should be hot and dry.**

**By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.**

**My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mail. I did drive to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got… and shuddered at the thought.**

I smirked a little as Rosalie frowned and opened her mouth to say something. It was obviously meant to be an insult to Bella's truck (now deceased) as Bella quickly leaned in and kissed her mate to silence her.

**The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.**

**People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. We had a pop quiz on **_**Wuthering Heights**_**. It was straightforward, very easy.**

**All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.**

Rosalie smirked. "How about now?" she asked innocently and Bella grinned.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she said sincerely and I smiled at my daughters.

**When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.**

**"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."**

**I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.**

**"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.**

**He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"**

**"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes — you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."**

Emmett laughed loudly. "The ends of Q-tips?" he asked teasingly and Bella stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't make me sic Edward on you," Bella threatened and Emmett just laughed again.

"Bring it on," he challenged.

Immediately, my son was pinned the floor by his bronze-haired mate, my other son Edward. "Got you," he smirked, leaning down to peck Emmett on the cheek before they resumed their seats while the rest of us watched amusedly.

**"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.**

**"Sure I have." I paused." On TV.**

I laughed silently at that. The others weren't so considerate as they laughed at their sister's remark.

Bella just rolled her eyes. "It doesn't exactly snow very often in Arizona, or ever for that matter," she pointed out.

**Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who** **was walking away, his back toward us — in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike**

**apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.**

**"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."**

**He just nodded, his eyes on Eric's retreating figure.**

**Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently i was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain **— **until it melted in your socks.**

**I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary.**

**Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.**

All of the kids chuckled as I read that last sentence. "You looked like if she did that, then you would strangle her or something," Alice playfully teased her sister who laughed good-naturedly and agreed that she would actually have considered it if Jessica had thrown a snowball at her.

**Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward that table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where I stood. There were five people at the table.**

I grinned. That was the day that Edward returned.

**Jessica pulled on my arm.**

**"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"**

**I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong.**

**"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.**

**"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line.**

Carlisle and I both frowned at that. No matter how uncomfortable she was, Bella should have eaten something. If I didn't know better, I may have suspected her of having an eating disorder when she was human. But I knew that Bella would never do something like that.

**"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.**

**"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.**

**I waited for them to **_**get **_**their food, and then followed them to a table, my eyes on my feet.**

**I sipped my soda slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feeling. **

**I told him it was nothing, but I was wondering if I **_**should **_**play it up and escape to the nurse's office for the next hour.**

I frowned. "You shouldn't skip class, Bella," I scolded her lightly and she smiled, lowering her head a little.

"Sorry, Mom. I'll try not to unless it's necessary," Bella apologized sincerely and I smiled at her. I loved hearing her call me 'Mom'. "I did go to class, though," she offered and I nodded.

**Ridiculous. I shouldn't have to run away.**

"No, you shouldn't," Rosalie agreed.

**I decided to permit myself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If he was glaring at me, I would skip Biology, like the coward I was.**

**I kept my head down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a little.**

**They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else — only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us.**

Alice laughed a little at that. "That's exactly what it was supposed to seem like," she admitted. "I knew that you were going to look and you were already noticing so much that I wanted us to at least seem _somewhat _normal, to you."

**But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully.**

**His skin was less pale, I decided — flushed from the snow fight maybe — the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.**

"Fascinating," Carlisle murmured next to me, but he didn't say anything else so I continued reading.

**"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.**

**At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine. I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.**

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.**

**"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking.**

**"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"**

**"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my arm.**

**"The Cullens don't like anybody…well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."**

**"Stop looking at him," I hissed.**

**She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.**

Emmett laughed his booming laugh. "I would pay to see that, little sis," he chuckled.

**Mike interrupted us then — he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. **

**Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.**

**For the rest of the lunch hour I very carefully kept my eyes at my own table. I decided to honor the bargain I'd made with myself. Since he didn't look angry, I would go to Biology. My stomach did frightened little flips at the thought of sitting next to him again.**

**I didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual — he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers **— **but when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased. I would be free to go straight home after Gym. Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four.**

Edward and Jasper rolled their eyes. "That boy gets worked up at the most insignificant things," Jasper muttered in annoyance, his eyebrows drawing together before smoothing out when Alice leaned up to kiss her mate on the cheek, making him relax and smile a little.

**Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.**

"Hmm..." Bella said, frowning a little.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked, raising one eyebrow.

Bella shrugged. "I used to draw a lot, but for some reason I stopped when I got to Forks," she said thoughtfully before motioning me to keep going.

_Well, perhaps I can get her some good supplies and get her to start drawing again, _I thought to myself and Alice gave an infinitesimal nod, letting me know that it would work.

**I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.**

**"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.**

**I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled — even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.**

**"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."**

**My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of anything conventional to say.**

**"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.**

Jasper frowned. "What..." he trailed off before understanding lit his eyes and he rolled his eyes at Edward, who wore a sheepish smile.

**He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.**

**"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."**

**I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.**

**"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"**

**He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"**

Emmett chuckled. "That was your first mistake," he told his mate, who gave a half-smile and a nod.

**"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me Isabella behind my back — that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.**

**"Oh." He let it drop. I looked away awkwardly.**

Edward chuckled. "I realized that I had just given you one more reason to question me, to wonder about me," he explained when Bella looked at him curiously.

**Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.**

**"Get started," he commanded.**

**"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.**

Rosalie frowned slightly and Bella pulled her close. "You have the most gorgeous smile that I've ever seen," she murmured and the blond appeared to be appeased by that as a small smile replaced her frown.

**"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was mentally competent.**

**"No," I said, flushing. "I'll go ahead."**

**I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.**

**My assessment was confident. "Prophase."**

**"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, like he'd been holding them in a snowdrift before class. But that wasn't why I jerked my hand away so quickly. When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us.**

Edward and Bella both smiled. "The same thing that I feel with you," Edward began, speaking to Emmett.

"Only a thousand times more powerful," Bella finished, leaning forward to kiss her own mate.

"Aww," Alice and I spoke at the same time, smiling widely at the two couples. I loved seeing my children so happy and in love. It was one of the best feelings in the world.

**"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. **

**However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched him, still staggered, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.**

**"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.**

**"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.**

**I kept my voice indifferent. "May I?"**

Edward snorted. "Were you hoping I was wrong?" he teased and faked a hurt expression when his sister nodded.

**He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.**

**I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right.**

**"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him. He handed it to me; it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again. I took the most fleeting look I could manage.**

**"Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated me. I didn't want to spoil the page with my clumsy scrawl.**

**We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.**

**Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him… unsuccessfully. I glanced up, and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes.**

**Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.**

**"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out unthinkingly.**

Jasper appeared shocked and Carlisle was excited. "You really noticed that?" my mate asked and our daughter nodded.

"Of course," she responded.

**He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."**

**"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."**

**He shrugged, and looked away.**

**In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he'd glared at me — the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. **

"Amazing," Carlisle breathed before falling silent once more.

**I didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts. Or maybe Forks was making me crazy in the literal sense of the word.**

**I looked down. His hands were clenched into hard fists again.**

**Mr. Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.**

**"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.**

That annoyed me. My daughter was exceedingly bright and that man insulted her intelligence when he hardly knew her.

**"Bella," Edward corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five."**

**Mr. Banner looked at me now; his expression was skeptical.**

I growled quietly and Bella grinned.

"It's alright, Mom. He learned eventually," she soothed me and I nodded in satisfaction. The vampire in me was furious that that man would dare question one of its children, but it was willing to accept that pacification.

**"Have you done this lab before?" he asked.**

**I smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."**

**"Whitefish blastula?"**

**"Yeah."**

**Mr. Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix ?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He mumbled something else as he walked away. After he left, I began doodling on my notebook again.**

_Hmm... Really need to order those supplies as soon as possible..._

**"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. **

All of us girls except for Bella rolled our eyes. "Really, Edward?" Alice asked with exasperation.

**I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me. Paranoia swept over me again. It was like he** **had heard my conversation with Jessica at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong.**

"Incredible," Carlisle muttered, but we had all decided just to ignore his little comments as he had neglected to expand on any of them.

**"Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else. I was still trying to dislodge the stupid feeling of suspicion, and I couldn't concentrate.**

**"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.**

**"Or the wet."**

**"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.**

**"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.**

**He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine. His face was such a distraction that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.**

Rosalie growled a little and I had to force myself to keep a straight face. I had a feeling that she wasn't going to be completely happy again until we finally finished this book.

"Sh..." Bella soothed. "His face is nothing compared to yours. I never want to look away from the beauty of your face," she whispered and Rose purred happily while Edward fake-pouted.

**"Why did you come here, then?"**

**No one had asked me that — not straight out like he did, demanding.**

"Edward, that's rude," I reprimanded him lightly and he lowered his head, smiling apologetically.

**"It's… complicated."**

**"I think I can keep up," he pressed.**

**I paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark gold eyes confused me, and I answered without thinking.**

**"My mother got remarried," I said.**

**"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic.**

**"When did that happen?"**

**"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.**

**"And you don't like him," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.**

**"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."**

**"Why didn't you stay with them?"**

**I couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull life's story was somehow vitally important.**

**"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." I half-smiled.**

**"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.**

**"Probably not. He doesn't play **_**well**_**. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."**

**"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He said it as an assumption again, not a question.**

Bella rolled her eyes. "You were so arrogant about it, too," she complained playfully while her brother feigned upset.

**My chin raised a fraction. "No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."**

**His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.**

**I sighed. Why was I explaining this to him? He continued to stare at me with obvious curiosity.**

**"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." My voice was glum by the time I finished.**

**"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.**

**"And?" I challenged.**

I shook my head, watching my daughter lovingly.

"So selfless," Rosalie murmured, kissing her mate softly.

**"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.**

**I laughed without humor. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."**

**"I believe I **_**have **_**heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.**

**"So that's all," I insisted, wondering why he was still staring at me that way.**

Edward shrugged. "I could tell that you were leaving something out."

**His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."**

**I grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, and looked away.**

Emmett snickered. "I would have loved to have seen you do that, little sis," he teased. Bella stuck her tongue out at him and we all laughed at the exchange. My son always did know how to bring out the playful side of people.

**"Am I wrong?"**

**I tried to ignore him.**

**"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.**

**"Why does it matter to **_**you **_**?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes away, watching the teacher make his rounds.**

**"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to himself. **

Edward appeared shocked. "You heard that?" he asked incredulously.

Bella nodded. "Of course. Wait, you were talking to quietly for a human to hear?" she asked and appeared just as shocked as him when he nodded in confirmation.

Carlisle just got even more excited and Jasper appeared to be fighting a smile now that his father's mood was spiking so much. Poor boy.

**However, after a few seconds of silence, I decided that was the only answer I was going to get. I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.**

**"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.**

**I glanced at him without thinking… and told the truth again." Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read — my mother always calls me her open book." I frowned.**

**"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.**

**"You must be a good reader then," I replied.**

**"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultrawhite teeth.**

**Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and I turned with relief to listen. I was in disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise me. **

All of the kids laughed at their sister's thoughts. Even I had to admit that it was pretty amusing.

**He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.**

Edward shrugged. "I ran out of air."

**I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were unmanageable.**

**When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.**

**Mike skipped quickly to my side and picked up my books for me. I imagined him with a wagging tail.**

We all laughed at that, even Carlisle and I. Edward had mentioned that the Newton boy wasn't exactly pure of mind when it came to Bella, so I had no scruples about laughing at Bella's mental image of him.

**"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."**

The vampire in me, backed by my motherly instincts, growled. It was angered by the fact that, once again, a Forks resident felt the need to question my daughter's intelligence. Still, I restrained the beast and remained quiet.

**"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by his assumption. **

Rosalie and I both nodded in satisfaction at that.

**I regretted the snub instantly. "I've done the lab before, though," I added before he could get his feelings hurt.**

Rosalie shook her head a little. "You're far too nice sometimes," she said indulgently.

**"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it.**

**I tried to sound indifferent. "I wonder what was with him last Monday."**

**I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and P.E. didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my position as well as his own, so my woolgathering was only interrupted when it was my turn to serve; my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up.**

**The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.**

**I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. I swiftly looked away and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. **

"Bella," Carlisle and I scolded and she hung her head sheepishly.

"Sorry," she apologized and we smiled a little. I could never stay mad at any of my children for very long.

**Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of. I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him laughing.**

"Edward..." I sighed and he quickly apologized before I could say anything more. I shook my head. "That was the end of the chapter," I stated. "Who wants to read next?" I asked.

"I will," Alice grinned and I tossed her the book. "**Chapter Three. Phenomenon."**

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I went out of town and didn't have access to a computer and I just got back today. :( Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Review, please!**

**- Ashe**


	4. Phenomenon

**Chapter Four: Phenomenon **

Alice

"**Chapter Three. Phenomenon,**" I read, wondering to myself about the title when I saw Bella frown out of the corner of my eye. Hmm… I wonder.

**When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different. **

**It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window. I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror. **

_Hmm… It's probably snow…_

**A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. **

_Ha! I knew it! _I smirked to myself.

**But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid — coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick.**

**I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.**

**Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.**

Esme frowned. "You really didn't mind being alone?" she asked concernedly.

Bella smiled at her. "No, I didn't mind. I've always been kind of a solitary person," my sister shrugged and I frowned a little. I couldn't pinpoint it, but something about that bothered me a little bit.

**I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me.** **I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment I was anticipating, or seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. And that was very, very stupid.**

"You should be, 'cause he's mine," Emmett smirked playfully as he draped an arm over his mate.

**I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday. And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him, and I was still tongue tied whenever I pictured his perfect face. I was well aware that my league and his league were spheres that did not touch.**

Rosalie growled at that, while Esme looked saddened; I glared at my sister for thinking that way.

"Why would you think like that Bella?" I demanded exasperatedly. Did she truly think so little of herself? Did she really not see how beautiful that she was, even as a human?

Bella looked down and shook her head a little before she sighed. "Because Alice, we've been reading my thoughts. You know how I saw all of you. Would you truly expect anything else from me when faced with the most beautiful and amazing family in the world?" she asked tiredly and I had a feeling that we would be having this argument several more times before the book was over, so I decided to let it go – for now.

Esme sighed sadly. "Darling, from the moment that we met you, you were never any less than we were, alright?" she pleaded.

Bella glanced up at her and gave a small smile and nodded in response.

Rosalie growled again quietly, and I could see the distress in her gaze. I knew how badly it hurt her to have her mate think badly of herself, since Jasper always looked down on himself for having so much trouble with our diet.

"From now on, you will not think that way. Are we clear?" Rose demanded, making Bella's lips twitch upward a little in amusement.

"Yes, baby, we're clear," Bella grinned, leaning over to kiss her mate on the cheek. I smirked. Rosalie could be so hilarious when she was either jealous or irritated like this.

**So I shouldn't be at all anxious to see him today. It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to the truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself.**

**Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish.**

Emmett grinned and opened his mouth to say something but wisely shut it once more when he saw the glare that Bella threw his way. I had gotten a flash of what Bella's revenge would have been if he had said what he was going to. Let's just say that his video game collection was going to go through a little… renovation (or rather demolition).

**Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of falling and my unwanted speculations about Edward Cullen by thinking about Mike and Eric, and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here. I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix. Maybe it was just that the boys back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between.** **Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress.**

**Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behavior and Eric's apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting. I wasn't sure if I didn't prefer being ignored. **

Rosalie shook her head and I didn't have to be a mind reader to know that she was wondering why on earth anyone would rather be ignored than admired, but she knew her mate well enough to know that Bella just wasn't the kind of person that enjoyed so much attention from people that she barely knew.

**My truck seemed to have no problem with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street.**

**When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck — carefully holding the side for support — to examine my tires.**

We all chuckled at that one, even the former Queen of Clumsy, herself.

**There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my truck.** **My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, and Charlie's unspoken concern caught me by surprise.**

Esme frowned. "Why wouldn't he be concerned?" she asked, a puzzled expression on her face, and Bella sighed.

"It's just that I was always the one to take care of Renee and even with Charlie it was more like being equals than having a true parent-child relationship," she explained, shrugging and I could almost hear Mom's heart breaking a little at that. A wave of sadness rushed through me, as well. Bella deserved to be taken care of. Yes, her parents loved (and still do love, even if she can't see them anymore) her, but I can't help but suspect that Bella was at least slightly emotionally neglected as a child. Still, I knew better than to say anything.

**I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound**.

Everyone except for Esme and Carlisle, who hadn't been there for this black event, tensed visibly before I read on.

**It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled.**

**I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.**

**Edward Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror.** **His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. **

Esme gasped and Carlisle frowned as both of their eyes widened as they realized just what day that this was.

**It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, and I was standing between them. I didn't even have time to close my eyes.** **Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting.**

**My head cracked against the icy blacktop,** **and I felt something solid and cold pinning me to the ground. I was lying on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming. **

We all shook our heads in slightly horrified remembrance. "Your bad luck has a better chance of killing you than any vampire on the planet," I informed our resident danger magnet, who simply shrugged knowing that there really wasn't any way to combat that (very true) statement.

**It had curled gratingly around the end of the truck and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me again. A low oath made me aware that someone was with me, and the voice was impossible not to recognize. Two long, white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the van shuddered to a stop a foot from my face, the large hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body.**

"You really do notice everything…" Carlisle trailed off in an awestruck voice, and I had to agree with him.

**Then his hands moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping under the body of the van, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around like a ragdoll's, till they hit the tire of the tan car. A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears, and the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt — exactly where, a second ago, my legs had been.**

Rosalie, who had been gripping Bella tightly to her, relaxed slightly now that we were past the point of danger.

**It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt bedlam, I could hear more than one person shouting my name. But more clearly than all the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.**

**"Bella? Are you all right?"**

**"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp.**

**"Be careful," he warned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard." **

**I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear.**

**"Ow," I said, surprised.**

We all had to laugh a little at that. It was just so Bella.

**"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.**

"Edward," Esme scolded and the bronze-haired teenager ducked his head and apologized.

**"How in the…" I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. "How did you get over here so fast?"**

"And here's where we start really getting the point of her figuring out what we are," I said knowingly.

**"I was standing right next to you, Bella," he said, his tone serious again.**

Bella snorted. "And they accuse me of being a bad liar," she muttered and I smirked. It was true.

**I turned to sit up, and this time he let me, releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as he could in the limited space. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his gold-colored eyes. What was I asking him?**

**And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.**

**"Don't move," someone instructed.**

**"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted.**

**There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.** **"Just stay put for now."**

**"But it's cold," I complained.**

"Bella…" Carlisle said and we could see that Dr. Cullen was trying to come out.

"I know, Carlisle, but I was fine. You checked me out, after all, remember?" she joked and he relaxed again, chuckling softly.

**It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound.**

**"You were over there," I suddenly remembered, and his chuckle stopped short. "You were by your car."**

**His expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."**

**"I saw you." All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene. But I obstinately held on to our argument; I was right, and he was going to admit it.**

I grinned. I've lived for a long time, but Bella is without doubt the most stubborn person that I've ever met.

**"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on me, as if trying to communicate something crucial.**

**"No." I set my jaw.**

**The gold in his eyes blazed. "Please, Bella."**

Bella scowled at him playfully, clucking her tongue at him. "Such a manipulative jerk," she chided and he rolled his eyes and grinned.

**"Why?" I demanded.**

**"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming.**

**I could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"**

**"Fine," he snapped, abruptly exasperated.**

**"Fine," I repeated angrily.**

**It took six EMTs and two teachers — Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp — to shift the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same, but the traitor told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion.**

**I almost died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace. It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Edward got to ride in the front. It was maddening. To make matters worse, Chief Swan arrived before they could get me safely away.**

"Chief Swan?" Jasper raised an eyebrow at our little sister and she shrugged.

"It was how I differentiated between his police-mode and just regular Charlie," she explained and I nodded.

**"Bella!" he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher.**

**"I'm completely fine, Char — Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."**

**He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. When they'd lifted me away from the car, I had seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper — a very distinct dent that fit the contours of Edward's shoulders…as if he had braced himself against the car with enough force to damage the metal frame…**

**And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury, but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety. **

Rosalie frowned and I could see the hint of guilt that showed on her features. "I'm sorry and thank you, by the way, for saving her," Rosalie murmured to Edward, who just smiled.

"Thank you for saving _him,_" he replied, wrapping an arm around his mate.

**I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen — a solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane.**

**Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. What made it worse was that Edward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I ground my teeth together.**

**They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered pulling the curtain around to give me some privacy, I decided I wasn't obligated to wear the stupid-looking neck brace anymore.**

Carlisle wore an expression like someone had just taken away all of his Christmas presents, turning to face Bella but completely speechless.

"Sorry, Carlisle," she apologized quickly, throwing me a look that said 'if you have any mercy at all, you will keep reading'. I decided to save her. Maybe I could get her to go shopping with me sometime as a way to repay the favor…

**When the nurse walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed.**

Bella gave another apologetic look, here.

**There was another flurry of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class beneath the bloodstained bandages wrapped tightly around his head. Tyler looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.**

**"Bella, I'm so sorry!"**

**"I'm fine, Tyler — you look awful, are you all right?" As we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.**

**He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong…" He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face.**

**"Don't worry about it; you missed me."**

**"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone…" **

**"Umm… Edward pulled me out of the way."**

**He looked confused. "Who?"**

**"Edward Cullen — he was standing next to me." I'd always been a terrible liar; I didn't sound convincing at all.**

**"Cullen? I didn't see him… wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"**

**"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."**

I laughed quietly. "You really didn't like that did you?" I asked teasingly and my sister huffed.

"No, I didn't, thank you very much," she retorted.

**I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen.**

**They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I told them there was nothing wrong, and I was right. Not even a concussion.**

**I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harassed by Tyler 's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling.**

**"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open.**

**Edward was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy — it would have been more natural to ogle.**

Rosalie frowned and Bella leaned over to whisper something in her ear, so quietly that not even we could hear it, although it appeared to appease the blond.

**"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry —"Tyler began.**

**Edward lifted a hand to stop him. "No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler 's bed, facing me. He smirked again. "So, what's the verdict?" he asked me.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"**

Edward chuckled at that and Bella growled at him. "You should remember that I'm a vampire now, and I can hurt you," she threatened. Edward was about to laugh again but then he looked in her eyes and saw that she was serious. His eyes widened and he stayed silent. What do you know? You can teach an old vampire new tricks.

**"It's all about who you know," he answered. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."**

**Then a doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open.**

**He was young, he was blond… and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. **

Carlisle chuckled and Esme growled playfully. Bella held up her hands in mock surrender and we all laughed.

**He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. From Charlie's description, this had to be Edward's father**.

**"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice, "how are you feeling?"**

**"I'm fine," I said, for the last time, I hoped.**

Carlisle smiled a little. "Sorry, Bella."

**He walked to the lightboard on the wall over my head, and turned it on.** **"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."**

**"It's fine," I repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Edward.** **The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along my skull. He noticed when I winced.**

**"Tender?" he asked.**

**"Not really." I'd had worse.**

Bella smirked. "Much, much worse," she agreed with herself in the book, shaking her head in amusement.

**I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile. My eyes narrowed.**

**"Well, your father is in the waiting room — you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."**

**"Can't I go back to school?" I asked, imagining Charlie trying to be attentive.**

I frowned to myself as I read that. I was starting to realize something… Bella really didn't know how to be a child. She had never really had a traditional parent-figure around, even now. Carlisle and Esme treat us like their own kids, yes, but not in the way that Bella has never had before. I shook my head before continuing to read. I would think about it more, later.

**"Maybe you should take it easy today."**

**I glanced at Edward. "Does he get to go to school?"**

**"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said smugly.**

**"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."**

**"Oh no," I moaned, covering my face with my hands.**

**Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"**

**"No, no!" I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly — I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me. He looked concerned.**

**"I'm fine," I assured him again. No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with hitting my head.**

Carlisle smiled widely. "I like to think that I learned quickly," he chuckled.

**"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he steadied me.**

**"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.**

**"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said, smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish.**

**"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," I amended with a hard glance at the subject of my statement.**

**"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Cullen agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him.**

**Then he looked away, at Tyler, and walked to the next bed. My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it.**

"Amazing," Carlisle murmured, the curiosity in his eyes flaring up once more. I smirked. Carlisle had to be the most curious person, vampire or not, that I ever had and ever would meet.

**"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.**

**As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Edward's side.**

**"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I hissed under my breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched.**

Bella smiled a little. "Sorry about that. I got a little too close, huh?" she mused and he nodded, smiling in response to let her know that it was alright.

**"Your father is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.**

**I glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler.**

**"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," I pressed.**

**He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to face me.**

**"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold.**

"Edward, that was rude and uncalled for," Esme scolded him and he smiled sheepishly.

"I know. Sorry, Bella," he apologized and Bella laughed lightly, shaking her head.

**His unfriendliness intimidated me. My words came out with less severity than I'd intended. "You owe me an explanation," I reminded him.**

**"I saved your life — I don't owe you anything."**

"Edward…" Esme sighed but didn't say anything else.

**I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "You promised."**

**"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." His tone was cutting.**

**My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. "There's nothing wrong with my head."**

Bella chuckled humorlessly. "Not yet, anyways," she muttered quietly and I was curious what she meant by that. Hmm… I suppose I'll find out eventually, thanks to these books.

**He glared back. "What do you want from me, Bella?"**

**"I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you."**

**"What do you think happened?" he snapped.**

**It came out in a rush.**

**"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me —Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both — and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it — and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all — and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" I could hear how crazy it sounded, and I couldn't continue. I was so mad I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back by grinding my teeth together.**

I stopped reading and once again we all stared at her incredulously. Yes, we had read what she had seen during the accident, but still… I shook my head and kept going.

**He was staring at me incredulously. But his face was tense, defensive.** **"You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor.**

Edward half-smiled at the truth in that statement.

**I merely nodded once, jaw tight.**

**"Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now.**

**"I'm not going to tell anybody." I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger.**

**Surprise flitted across his face.**

"I didn't expect that you would keep what you knew a secret. I expected you to tell someone, but you didn't," Edward shook his head in wonder. Having a direct look into the human psyche, he knew well just how few people would actually keep a secret like that for someone that they didn't even really know.

**"Then why does it matter?"**

**"It matters to me," I insisted. "I don't like to lie — so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."**

**"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"**

**"Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant.**

Emmett laughed at that. "There was no way that you were getting answers, little sister. Sorry," he grinned.

**"You're not going to let it go, are you?"**

**"No."**

**"In that case… I hope you enjoy disappointment."**

**We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.**

**"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.**

"Bella…" I murmured, shaking my head indulgently at her.

**He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.**

**"I don't know," he whispered.**

**And then he turned his back on me and walked away.**

**I was so angry, it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway.**

**The waiting room was more unpleasant than I'd feared. It seemed like every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured him sullenly. I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.**

**"What did the doctor say?"**

**"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed. Mike and Jessica and Eric were all there, beginning to converge on us. "Let's go," I urged.**

Rosalie growled at the mention of Newton and I grimaced in distaste. That boy was just disgusting…

**Charlie put one arm behind my back, not quite touching me, and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief— the first time I'd ever felt that way — to get into the cruiser.**

**We drove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Edward's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed.**

Edward laughed a little. "Yes, it was, but it was actually meant to be a deterrent," he said and Bella just grinned and shook her head.

**When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke.** **"Um… you'll need to call Renée." He hung his head, guilty.**

**I was appalled. "You told Mom!"**

Esme frowned, her eyebrows furrowed. "She is your mother. She deserved to know," she said slowly, obviously deep in thought.

Bella just shrugged. "Yes, but I wasn't actually hurt and she tends to overreact about things. I just didn't want her to have to worry," she explained.

**"Sorry."**

**I slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on my way out.**

**My mom was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times before she would calm down. **

Esme, Rosalie, and I all frowned at the same time. Bella was the one who was just in a nearly fatal accident and she's the one comforting Renee? I couldn't stop the thought from forming and, judging by their expressions, I would say that Rosalie and Esme agreed with me.

**She begged me to come home — forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment — but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought. I was consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.**

Bella smirked. "Very stupid, seeing as I was dreaming of the wrong Cullen," she said, glancing over at her mate, who smiled back at her.

**I wasn't as eager to escape Forks as I should be, as any normal, sane person would be.**

I grinned at that. Bella never was a fan of the rain and dampness of Forks, as a human.

**I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Charlie continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. **

I frowned. Parents are supposed to be concerned and most kids, teenagers or not, would be happy to have the attention of their parent after something like that. I was becoming more and more certain each moment that Bella had some serious parent issues.

**I stopped on my way to grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. **

Carlisle smiled happily at that.

**They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep.**

**That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.**

Bella's eyes widened a little and she frowned. I looked at her questioningly and she smiled a little and shook her head, so I let it go.

"Okay, that was the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" I asked and Jasper smiled, reaching over to take the book from me.

"I will," he volunteered. "Chapter Four. Scary Stories," he read.

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: Hey, everyone! There's the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Now, reviews please! :D**

**- Ashe**


	5. Invitations

**Chapter Five: Invitations**

Jasper

**"Invitations," **I read.

**In my dream it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's skin. I couldn't see his face, just his back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned.**

I felt my mouth fall open slightly; the room was silent. I recovered after a moment and shook my head to clear it. "How?" I asked incredulously, my own shock fueled by everyone else's. "How could you possibly know that?" I asked again and Bella wore a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I really don't know. I had no idea that vampire's skin shined in the sunlight – not yet, anyways – but it was like that in my dreams," she shrugged.

Everyone else shook their heads in disbelief while Carlisle murmured, "Amazing," to himself. I gave a small smile and continued reading. It turns out reading my little sister's thoughts is even more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

**Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time. After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach.**

**The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.**

**To my dismay, I found myself the center of attention for the rest of that week. Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it — especially since nothing had actually happened to me — but he remained insistent. **

Emmett snickered at that. "Little Bella not enjoying the attention of her admirers?" he asked mockingly and Bella growled at him, raising one eyebrow as if to ask "You sure you want to keep going?". Emmett, wisely, got the message and backed down. I smirked at him before I kept reading.

**He followed me between classes and sat at our now-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan.**

**No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero — how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. I tried to be convincing. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away.**

**I wondered to myself why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving my life. **

**With chagrin, I realized the probable cause — no one else was as aware of Edward as I always was. No one else watched him the way I did. How pitiful.**

**Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account. People avoided him as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced my way anymore.**

Edward chuckled. "Sorry about that. I just didn't want you to find out anything else that you could use against me," he said and Bella shook her head, smiling at our bronze-haired brother.

**When he sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow, he seemed totally unaware of my presence. **

**Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up — skin stretched even whiter over the bones — did I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.**

**He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler 's van — there was no other conclusion I could come to.**

Several of us opened our mouths to refute that statement but Bella beat us to it. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. But you have to remember that the way I saw it, he saved me and then appeared to go back to hating me just as much as he did at first so that was the only logical conclusion that I could draw. Besides, I've always been pretty… self-deprecating, felt unworthy," she admitted uncomfortably. I felt Esme's pain as well as Alice's exasperation and Rose's frustration, along with all of our sadness.

None of us liked it when Bella looked down on herself. Still, I could feel just how unsettling it was for her to admit it, so I took pity on her by sending out a wave of good feeling and slight impatience. Almost immediately they turned to me, waiting for me to read, and Bella smiled a little and sent me a wave of peace and gratefulness. I smiled back, thankful for that little bit of peace. It was somewhat taxing to feel the entire family's emotions, but whenever any of them made that small effort to help me I was more than appreciative.

**I wanted very much to talk to him, and the day after the accident I tried. The last time I'd seen him, outside the ER, we'd both been so furious. I still was angry that he wouldn't trust me with the truth, even though I was keeping my part of the bargain flawlessly. But he had in fact saved my life, no matter how he'd done it. And, overnight, the heat of my anger faded into awed gratitude.**

**He was already seated when I got to Biology, looking straight ahead. I sat down, expecting him to turn toward me. He showed no sign that he realized I was there.**

**"Hello, Edward," I said pleasantly, to show him I was going to behave myself.**

Esme smiled and I could feel how pleased she was with her daughter's good manners.

**He turned his head a fraction toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way.**

"Edward," Esme scolded. "That is extremely rude," she berated him and he hung his head, apologizing once she was quiet.

**And that was the last contact I'd had with him, though he was there, a foot away from me, every day. I watched him sometimes, unable to stop myself— from a distance, though, in the cafeteria or parking lot. I watched as his golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day.**

**But in class I gave no more notice that he existed than he showed toward me. I was miserable. And the dreams continued.**

I felt Rose's jealousy and uncertainty as I read those words, and I was going to send Bella a wave of caution to alert her to her mate's feelings – but it turned out to be unnecessary.

No sooner had the thought occurred to me, than Bella had turned to Rose and leaned closer to her. "You are the only one I ever want to dream about, but at the same time I'm glad that I can't. Because I never want to lose a moment that I could be spending with you," she murmured and Rose was filled with a wave of love and security and joy that my gift could never replicate, no matter how hard I tried.

I smiled. It was nice to see my siblings so happy together. Others may have seen Rosalie and Bella's – as well as Emmett and Edward's – relationship as something wrong or sick. But all that I saw was two people who loved each other with an intensity that was rare in any relationship. After all, I would know. I smiled wryly to myself as I thought of that, before I continued.

**Despite my outright lies, the tenor of my e-mails alerted Renée to my depression, and she called a few times, worried. I tried to convince her it was just the weather that had me down.**

**Mike, at least, was pleased by the obvious coolness between me and my lab partner. I could see he'd been worried that Edward's daring rescue might have impressed me, and he was relieved that it seemed to have the opposite effect. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of my table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Edward as completely as he ignored us.**

**The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, though, and the weeks passed.**

**Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon — she called the first Tuesday of March to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girls' choice spring dance in two weeks.**

**"Are you sure you don't mind… you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted when I told her I didn't mind in the least.**

**"No, Jess, I'm not going," I assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of abilities.**

**"It will be really fun." Her attempt to convince me was halfhearted. I suspected that Jessica enjoyed my inexplicable popularity more than my actual company.**

**You have fun with Mike," I encouraged.**

**The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. **

Esme looked confused for a moment but Bella just shook her head, looking (and feeling) slightly aggravated.

**She was silent as she walked by my side between classes, and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.**

**My fears were strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet.**

**Mike was still quiet as he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn't broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. As always, I was electrically aware of Edward sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were merely an invention of my imagination.**

**"So," Mike said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."**

**"That's great." I made my voice bright and enthusiastic. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."**

I chuckled quietly. Well, this would explain why Mike felt rejected and disgruntled on that particular day. It was rather amusing, actually.

**"Well…" He floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response.**

**"I told her I had to think about it."**

Esme huffed at that. "That is very rude. Doesn't this boy have any manners whatsoever?" she seethed, appalled by Mike's lack of chivalry.

All of us "kids" laughed at that. "Sorry, Esme, but most boys today have very little manners and Mike is no exception," Bella explained apologetically and Esme frowned.

**"Why would you do that?" I let disapproval color my tone, though I was relieved he hadn't given her an absolute no.**

**His face was bright red as he looked down again. Pity shook my resolve.**

**"I was wondering if… well, if you might be planning to ask me."**

**I paused for a moment, hating the wave of guilt that swept through me. But I saw, from the corner of my eye, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my direction.**

**"Mike, I think you should tell her yes," I said.**

**"Did you already ask someone?" Did Edward notice how Mike's eyes flickered in his direction?**

**"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to the dance at all."**

**"Why not?" Mike demanded.**

Esme growled quietly. "Pushy boy," she grumbled and I had to restrain a smile. It would definitely not be in my best interest to look amused right now. I sent Esme a small wave of calm and apology and she smiled at me thankfully, smiling a little. "Thank you, Jasper."

**I didn't want to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented, so I quickly made new plans.**

**"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. **

Esme's mood brightened now. "That was very good, dear," she praised and Bella smiled and thank her while shaking her head slightly. I could tell from her emotions that had really just not wanted to go to the dance with Mike and wanted him to leave her alone about it – not that I was going to inform Esme about any of that.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward smile mischievously. _And neither are you!_ I told him mentally, hurrying to read before he could say anything.

**I needed to get out of town anyway — it was suddenly the perfect time to go.**

**"Can't you go some other weekend?"**

**"Sorry, no," I said. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer — it's rude."**

**"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the guilt and sympathy out of my head. Mr. Banner began talking. I sighed and opened my eyes.**

**And Edward was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his black eyes.**

**I stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away.**

**My hands started to shake.**

**"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question that I hadn't heard.**

**"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr. Banner.**

**I looked down at my book as soon as his eyes released me, trying to find my place.**

**Cowardly as ever, I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me — just because he'd happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.**

**I tried very hard not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, and, since that was impossible, at least not to let him know that I was aware of him. **

Edward chuckled and clapped his hands playfully. "You did a good job. I couldn't even tell that you weren't actually paying attention to Mr. Banner," he praised and Bella smirked at him and gave a small, mocking bow while the rests of us chuckled and smiled at their playful exchange.

**When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.**

**"Bella?" His voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than for just a few short weeks.**

**I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew I would feel when I looked at his too-perfect face. My expression was wary when I finally turned to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything.**

**"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.**

**His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.**

**I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. He waited.**

**"Then what do you want, Edward?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed; it was easier to talk to him coherently that way.**

We all chuckled a little at that, except for Bella who merely held Rosalie tightly in her arms and snuggled a little more into her side.

**"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."**

**I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.**

**"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.**

**"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me."**

**My eyes narrowed. I'd heard that before.**

**"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."**

At that, Edward frowned and Rose growled, moving away slightly and turning to look at her mate. Rose took Bella's face in her hands and regarded her seriously. "I want you to listen to me very closely, alright?" she asked and Bella nodded. I could feel her confusion and curiosity, as well as her guilt for thinking that and now upsetting her mate and her family.

"You are worth it, do you hear me?" Rose asked seriously and I could feel the joy in Bella, but there was also hesitance and disbelief. I sighed and shook my head; Bella was silent.

"Bella, my daughter, you are and always have been worth it. We love you and there is nothing that we would not do for you," Esme said warmly, love and worry radiating out from her.

"Yeah, Bella. You're my sister and we love you," Alice stated firmly.

Bella shook her head a little and smiled before nodding. "Thank you. I love all of you, too," she said quietly and we smiled at her. I looked back at the book, deciding to keep reading and help draw the attention away from Bella for the moment.

**"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught him off guard. **

**"Regret for what?"**

**"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."**

**He was astonished. He stared at me in disbelief.**

**When he finally spoke, he almost sounded mad. "You think I regret saving your life?"**

**"I know you do," I snapped.**

**"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.**

"Edward!" Esme was dismayed at her son's deplorable manners and I had to grin. It was just too funny.

**I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl at him. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the door jamb and dropped my books. I stood there for a moment, thinking about leaving them. **

Emmett laughed loudly at that. "Bella, you were definitely my favorite human ever," he chuckled and Bella shook her head, sticking her tongue out at him. He responded in kind and we all chuckled at the childish exchange. I smiled happily. This was a good emotional climate and I hoped that it would hold for a while. It felt good to feel so… happy and content.

**Then I sighed and bent to pick them up. He was there; he'd already stacked them into a pile. He handed them to me, his face hard.**

**"Thank you," I said icily.**

**His eyes narrowed.**

**"You're welcome," he retorted.**

**I straightened up swiftly, turned away from him again, and stalked off to Gym without looking back.**

**Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me. **

"Not a word, Emmett," Bella snapped at Emmett, whose mouth was opened slightly. He looked at her serious expression before pouting. I chuckled lightly. What Emmett didn't realize was that Bella's irritation was feigned.

**Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Edward. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but he kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.**

**It was a relief, as always, to leave. I almost ran to the truck; there were just so many people I wanted to avoid. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. I'd had to replace the taillights, and if I'd had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler 's parents had to sell their van for parts.**

**I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. Then I realized it was just Eric. I started walking again.**

**"Hey, Eric," I called.**

**"Hi, Bella."**

**"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.**

**"Uh, I was just wondering… if you would go to the spring dance with me? " His voice broke on the last word.**

**"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to be diplomatic.**

We all laughed at that, even Esme and Carlisle. Poor Eric. At least that one knew when to give up.

**"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.**

**I recovered my composure and tried to make my smile warm. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."**

**"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."**

**"Sure," I agreed, and then bit my lip. I wouldn't want him to take that too literally.**

**He slouched off, back toward the school. I heard a low chuckle.**

**Edward was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together.**

"Edward," Esme sighed exasperatedly. Hmm… I sent Edward a wave of remorse.

"I'm sorry, Esme. That was wrong of me. I should have behaved better. Would you consider forgiving me, Bella," Edward pleaded and I couldn't help but crack a smile.

Instantly Edward snapped out of it and glared at me. "Jasper," he complained while we all laughed at how funny he looked when begging for forgiveness.

"It's fine, Edward," Bella and Esme chorused and he appeared slightly relieved, although he was still annoyed at me.

**I yanked the door open and jumped inside, slamming it loudly behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there — to wait for his family;** **I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo,**

Edward looked appalled at that while Bella grinned unrepentantly and my siblings and I laughed exuberantly at our brother's horrified look.

**but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rearview mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.**

**While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rearview mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.**

**"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed — obviously the holdup wasn't my fault.**

**"Oh, I know — I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.**

**This could not be happening.**

My siblings and I laughed loudly, while Esme and Carlisle smiled and Bella hid her face in Rose's hair and groaned in annoyance.

**"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.**

**"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.**

"I wonder if I could use up that quota," Emmett mused.

"Oh, you do, Emmett – regularly," Bella said teasingly, a wry smile on her lips and Emmett grinned at that. Crazy giant vampire.

**"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.**

**"Then why —"**

**He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."**

**Okay, it was completely his fault.**

**"Sorry, Tyler," I said, working to hide my irritation. "I really am going out of town."**

**"That's cool. We still have prom."**

Edward snickered at that. "He was serious, too," he laughed before explaining what happened the night that he took Bella to the prom – the way that Tyler had shown up at her house to take her to the prom. We all laughed at that for several moments, until I was able to calm everyone down.

**And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all sliding into the Volvo. In his rearview mirror, Edward's eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Tyler had said.**

**My foot itched toward the gas pedal… one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just that glossy silver paint job. I revved the engine.**

Edward looked horrified again and we all laughed exuberantly at him.

**But they were all in, and Edward was speeding away. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way.**

**When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, and it would keep me busy. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it, but it might be Charlie or my mom. **

**It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I suggested — with casual innocence — that maybe Angela, the shy girl who had Biology with me, could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler; I'd heard he was still available. **

Alice grinned. "Very good," she complimented our sister, who returned my mate's smile. I had to smile, too. The two of them really were best friends and I was so glad that Alice had Bella. She had me of course, but I think it made her feel a little more human to have had a human best friend and now a vampire sister and best friend.

**Jess thought that was a great idea. Now that she was sure of Mike, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished I would go to the dance. I gave her my Seattle excuse.**

**After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner — dicing the chicken especially; I didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But my head was spinning, trying to analyze every word Edward had spoken today. What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends?**

**My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must see how absorbed I was by him; he must not want to lead me on… so we couldn't even be friends… because he wasn't interested in me at all.**

**Of course he wasn't interested in me, I thought angrily, my eyes stinging — a delayed reaction to the onions. I wasn't interesting. And he was. Interesting… and brilliant… and mysterious… and perfect… and beautiful… and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.**

**Well, that was fine. I could leave him alone. I would leave him alone. I would get through my self-imposed sentence here in purgatory, and then hopefully some school in the Southwest, or possibly Hawaii, would offer me a scholarship. I focused my thoughts on sunny beaches and palm trees as I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.**

**Charlie seemed suspicious when he came home and smelled the green peppers. I couldn't blame him — the closest edible Mexican food was probably in southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting me in the kitchen.**

**"Dad?" I asked when he was almost done.**

**"Yeah, Bella?"**

**"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday… if that's okay?" I didn't want to ask permission — it set a bad precedent — but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end.**

Esme smiled at that. "That's very good manners, Bella," she said happily, pleased that Bella wasn't rude like the majority of other teenagers nowadays.

**"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Forks couldn't offer.**

**"Well, I wanted to get few books — the library here is pretty limited — and maybe look at some clothes." I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn't had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn't cost me quite a bit in the gas department.**

**"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing my thoughts.**

**"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia — and Tacoma if I have to."**

**"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret boyfriend or just worried about car trouble.**

Carlisle smiled widely at that. "A little of both, probably. You know, we fathers tend to worry about our little girls," he said sternly before grinning. "Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that – do I, Jasper?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at me.

"Why me?" I whined and the corner of his mouth twitched. I could feel his amusement as he raised his eyebrow a little farther. At the same time, Rosalie, Bella, Emmett, and Edward raised their eyebrows at me. "Oh. Yeah," I chuckled. "Of course you don't have to worry, Dad," I promised.

Rose raised one hand and pointed a finger at me. "Just make sure you don't bring my sister home pregnant," she said teasingly, with a mock-hardness in her eyes. I was shocked. It wasn't like Rosalie to joke about something like that, and I could feel the slight pain and sadness (as well as longing) when she said that, but I played along with her.

"Yes, ma'am," I said, nodding my head solemnly.

**"Yes."**

**"Seattle is a big city — you could get lost," he fretted.**

**"Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle — and I can read a map, don't worry about it."**

**"Do you want me to come with you?"**

All of the girls looked horrified and all of us guys rolled our eyes at their reactions. We didn't want to go shopping with them, anyways.

**I tried to be crafty as I hid my horror.**

**"That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing rooms all day — very boring."**

**"Oh, okay." The thought of sitting in women's clothing stores for any period of time immediately put him off.**

**"Thanks." I smiled at him.**

**"Will you be back in time for the dance?"**

**Grrr. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.**

**"No — I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that — I didn't get my balance problems from my mother.**

**He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized.**

**The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car. **

**Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a puddle at my feet. As I bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it before I could. **

**I jerked upright. Edward Cullen was right next to me, leaning casually against my truck.**

**"How do you do that?" I asked in amazed irritation.**

**"Do what?" He held my key out as he spoke. As I reached for it, he dropped it into my palm.**

**"Appear out of thin air."**

**"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." His voice was quiet as usual — velvet, muted.**

**I scowled at his perfect face. His eyes were light again today, a deep, golden honey color. Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts.**

**"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."**

**"That was for Tyler 's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." He snickered.**

**"You…" I gasped. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn him, but he only seemed more amused.**

**"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.**

**"So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler 's van didn't do the job?"**

We all frowned but we didn't say anything this time. Bella had already apologized – besides, these were _her _thoughts. We certainly didn't apologize for our thoughts, so what right did we have to make her do what we wouldn't?

**Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humor gone.**

**"Bella, you are utterly absurd," he said, his low voice cold.**

**My palms tingled — I wanted so badly to hit something. I was surprised at myself. I was usually a nonviolent person. **

**I turned my back and started to walk away.**

**"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace.**

**"I'm sorry, that was rude," he said as we walked. I ignored him. **

**"I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."**

**"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled.**

**"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled. He seemed to have recovered his good humor.**

**"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I asked severely.**

Carlisle and I paused at that. Hmm… His moods did change rather quickly… I shook my head. I would consider it more, later.

**"You're doing it again."**

**I sighed." Fine then. What do you want to ask?"**

**"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday — you know, the day of the spring dance —"**

**"Are you trying to be funny?" I interrupted him, wheeling toward him. My face got drenched as I looked up at his expression.**

**His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?"**

**I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.**

**"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."**

"Not that you actually went," Alice commented and Edward shrugged.

**That was unexpected.**

**"What?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at.**

**"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"**

**"With who?" I asked, mystified.**

I grinned at that, but stayed silent.

**"Myself, obviously." He enunciated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.**

**I was still stunned. "Why?"**

**"Well, I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."**

**"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." I started to walk again, but I was too surprised to maintain the same level of anger.**

**"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched my pace again.**

**"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Volvo owner.**

Emmett and I burst into laughter at that. "That was a good one, Bella Bear," Emmett said happily and Edward grumbled. "But you're my stupid, shiny Volvo owner," he chuckled and Edward cracked a smile as they held hands.

**"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."**

**"Honestly, Edward." I felt a thrill go through me as I said his name, and I hated it. "I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."**

**"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."**

**"Oh, thanks, now that's all cleared up. "Heavy sarcasm. **

**I realized I had stopped walking again. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I could more easily look at is face. Which certainly didn't help my clarity of thought.**

**"It would be more…prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."**

**His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence, his voice smoldering. I couldn't remember how to breathe.**

**"Will you go with me to Seattle?" he asked, still intense.**

**I couldn't speak yet, so I just nodded.**

**He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious.** **"You really should stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."**

**He turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.**

"And that's the end," I stated.

"You're so confusing, sometimes," Emmett remarked and Edward shrugged.

"Who wants to read next?" I asked and Carlisle smiled.

"I will, son," he offered and I nodded, tossing him the book. I can feel the curiosity and excitement rolling off of him in waves and I smile. Carlisle is so good and calm that it makes a pleasant emotional climate. Perhaps with him reading, this next chapter will remain relatively calm, I think as I pull Alice closer and tuck her into my side.


	6. Blood Type

**Chapter Six: Blood Type**

Rosalie

It's so odd to hear this and know that these were really Bella's thoughts back then. I shake my head and pull her closer to me, and she looks up at me and smiles before we both look to Carlisle as he begins to read.

**Blood-Type **

**I made my way to English in a daze. I didn't even realize when I first walked in that class had already** **started.**

**"Thank you for joining us, Miss Swan," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone.**

**I flushed and hurried to my seat.**

**It wasn't till class ended that I realized Mike wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to me. I felt a twinge** **of guilt. But he and Eric both met me at the door as usual, so I figured I wasn't totally unforgiven.**

**Mike seemed to become more himself as we walked, gaining enthusiasm as he talked about the weather report for this weekend. The rain was supposed to take a minor break, and so maybe his beach trip would be possible. I tried to sound eager, to make up for disappointing him yesterday. It was hard; rain or no rain, it would still only be in the high forties, if we were lucky.**

**The rest of the morning passed in a blur. It was difficult to believe that I hadn't just imagined what** **Edward had said, and the way his eyes had looked. Maybe it was just a very convincing dream that I'd confused with reality. That seemed more probable than that I really appealed to him on any level.**

I hissed quietly at the same time as Esme and Alice while Carlisle and the boys frowned. I opened my mouth to say something and saw Alice do the same, but – surprisingly – Esme beat us to it.

"Isabella Marie Swan Cullen," Esme said sternly, looking at Bella intently as she rose and walked towards us before stopping to kneel before my mate. "I want you to listen to me, and listen well, understood?"

Bella's eyes widened almost infinitesimally and she nodded. "Yes, Esme," she said in a meek voice. No one interrupted. There are times when you just don't interrupt Esme – and this was one of them.

"You are a beautiful, smart, amazing woman and you _are _worthy of love. You are incredibly, as is Rosalie, and the two of you deserve _each other._ And you should value yourself as much as Rosalie values you, because you _are worth it. _Do you understand me?" Esme as evenly, though not unkindly as her eyes seemed to overflow with warmth and a mother's love.

Bella's lips parted as she took in a silent breath, regarding our mother curiously, almost hesitantly, for a moment before she sighed quietly and appeared to relax in a way that she hadn't before. She nodded slowly. "Yes, Mom, I understand," Bella said quietly, a small smile appearing on her lips as she leaned down to hug Esme and whisper into her ear. "Thank you," she murmured.

Esme smiled lovingly at Bella and I before returning to her seat. No one said anything else. We didn't need to. I kissed the top of Bella's head and smiled at her softly as Carlisle continued to read.

**So I was impatient and frightened as Jessica and I entered the cafeteria. I wanted to see his face, to see if he'd gone back to the cold, indifferent person I'd known for the last several weeks. Or if, by some miracle, I'd really heard what I thought I'd heard this morning. Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans — Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys and they were all going together —** **completely unaware of my inattention.**

**Disappointment flooded through me as my eyes unerringly focused on his table. The other four were** **there, but he was absent. Had he gone home? I followed the still-babbling Jessica through the line,**

**crushed. I'd lost my appetite — I bought nothing but a bottle of lemonade. I just wanted to go sit down** **and sulk.**

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you again," Jessica said, finally breaking through my abstraction with his** **name. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today."**

**My head snapped up. I followed her gaze to see Edward, smiling crookedly, staring at me from an empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. Once he'd caught my eye, he raised one hand and motioned with his index finger for me to join him. As I stared in disbelief, he winked.**

**"Does he mean you?" Jessica asked with insulting astonishment in her voice.**

Alice snorted and I rolled my eyes. "Well, he certainly doesn't mean you," Alice retorted and I smirked.

**"Maybe he needs help with his Biology homework," I muttered for her benefit. **

**"Um, I'd better go see** **what he wants."** **I could feel her staring after me as I walked away.**

**When I reached his table, I stood behind the chair across from him, unsure.**

**"Why don't you sit with me today?" he asked, smiling.**

**I sat down automatically, watching him with caution. He was still smiling. It was hard to believe that** **someone so beautiful could be real. I was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and I would wake up.**

**He seemed to be waiting for me to say something.**

**"This is different," I finally managed.**

**"Well…" He paused, and then the rest of the words followed in a rush. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."**

"Edward…" Esme and Carlisle said exasperatedly and Edward held his hands up in the universal "okay, okay, I'm sorry" expression.

**I waited for him to say something that made sense. The seconds ticked by.**

**"You know I don't have any idea what you mean," I eventually pointed out.**

**"I know." He smiled again, and then he changed the subject. "I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you."**

**"They'll survive." I could feel their stares boring into my back.**

**"I may not give you back, though," he said with a wicked glint in his eyes.**

**I gulped.**

**He laughed. "You look worried."**

**"No," I said, but, ridiculously, my voice broke. "Surprised, actually… what brought all this on?"**

**"I told you — I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up." He was still smiling, but his ocher eyes were serious.**

**"Giving up?" I repeated in confusion.**

**"Yes — giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where** **they may." His smile faded as he explained, and a hard edge crept into his voice.**

**"You lost me again."**

**The breathtaking crooked smile reappeared.**

Emmett snickered. "Come on, let us see your _breathtaking crooked smile_," he said teasingly although you could see the love in his eyes. I smiled a little and shook my head. It really was ridiculous that anyone could find him scary – he was such a big jokester of a teddy bear.

**"I always say too much when I'm talking to you — that's one of the problems."**

**"Don't worry — I don't understand any of it," I said wryly.**

**"I'm counting on that."**

**"So, in plain English, are we friends now?"**

**"Friends…" he mused, dubious.**

**"Or not," I muttered.**

**He grinned. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you."**

**Behind his smile, the warning was real.**

**"You say that a lot," I noted, trying to ignore the sudden trembling in my stomach and keep my voice** **even.**

**"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me."**

**"I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too." My eyes narrowed.**

**He smiled apologetically.**

**"So, as long as I'm being… not smart, we'll try to be friends?" I struggled to sum up the confusing** **exchange.**

I smiled wryly. "I'm fairly certain that all of Edward's exchanges are confusing," I said teasingly and said vampire mock-glared at me while the others laughed.

**"That sounds about right."**

**I looked down at my hands wrapped around the lemonade bottle, not sure what to do now.**

**"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.**

Jasper chuckled. "You just had to ask," he said in amusement.

**I looked up into his deep gold eyes, became befuddled, and, as usual, blurted out the truth.**

**"I'm trying to figure out what you are."**

I ran a hand through my hair. "You know, you kind of nearly drove me insane when you asked that. If we weren't in a cafeteria I may have actually pounced," I admitted ashamedly, barely breathing the words so that only Bella could hear.

She turned her face to me and smiled gently while shaking her head before leaning close to my ear. "It's alright, Rose. I understand completely and I never held it against you. It's okay," she repeated. "I love you, Rose," she whispered before kissing my cheek and returning to her previous position.

I smiled and shook my head slightly before leaning down a dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, too, Isabella," I murmured softly, using her full name which she only allowed me to use. She had said that it made her uncomfortable when anyone else said it. She just didn't like it. But when I said it, she said that she actually kind of enjoyed it. And, honestly, it was kind of nice knowing that only I could get away with calling her that. It made it more special somehow.

**His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort.**

**"Are you having any luck with that?" he asked in an offhand tone.**

**"Not too much," I admitted.**

**He chuckled. "What are your theories?"**

**I blushed. I had been vacillating during the last month between Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. There** **was no way I was going to own up to that.**

Edward burst into laughter along with the rest of the family while Bella just chuckled and shook her head. "I knew that I was going to regret reading this book," Bella mock-pouted and we all grinned at her. She was just too adorable.

**"Won't you tell me?" he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile.**

**I shook my head. "Too embarrassing."**

**"That's really frustrating, you know," he complained.**

I chuckled. "You shouldn't have said that," I murmured loud enough for everyone to hear, thinking about the temper that my mate could exhibit sometimes.

Edward laughed with me before smiling wryly. "No, I really shouldn't have," he agreed while Bella smirked and everyone else just looked amused.

**"No," I disagreed quickly, my eyes narrowing, "I can't imagine why that would be frustrating at all —** **just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking, even if all the while they're making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean… now, why would that be frustrating?"**

**He grimaced.**

**"Or better," I continued, the pent-up annoyance flowing freely now, "say that person also did a wide** **range of bizarre things — from saving your life under impossible circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and he never explained any of that, either, even after he promised. That, also, would be very non-frustrating."**

**"You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"**

**"I don't like double standards."**

**We stared at each other, unsmiling.**

**He glanced over my shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, he snickered.**

**"What?"**

**"Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you — he's debating whether or not to come** **break up our fight." He snickered again.**

**"I don't know who you're talking about," I said frostily. "But I'm sure you're wrong, anyway."**

**"I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read."**

**"Except me, of course."**

**"Yes. Except for you." His mood shifted suddenly; his eyes turned brooding. "I wonder why that is."**

**I had to look away from the intensity of his stare. I concentrated on unscrewing the lid of my lemonade. I took a swig, staring at the table without seeing it.**

**"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted.**

**"No." I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full — of butterflies. **

**"You?" I looked at the empty table in front of him.**

**"No, I'm not hungry." I didn't understand his expression — it looked like he was enjoying some private joke.**

Carlisle shook his head. "Simply amazing," he muttered reverentially. We all looked at him amusedly since he didn't even seem to realize that he'd spoken aloud before he continued reading.

**"Can you do me a favor?" I asked after a second of hesitation.**

**He was suddenly wary. "That depends on what you want."**

**"It's not much," I assured him.**

**He waited, guarded but curious.**

**"I just wondered… if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I'm prepared." **

**I looked at the lemonade bottle as I spoke, tracing the circle of the opening with my pinkie finger.**

**"That sounds fair." He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing when I looked up.**

**"Thanks."**

**"Then can I have one answer in return?" he demanded.**

**"One."**

**"Tell me one theory."**

**Whoops. "Not that one."**

**"You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," he reminded me.**

**"And you've broken promises yourself," I reminded him back.**

**"Just one theory — I won't laugh."**

**"Yes, you will." I was positive about that.**

**He looked down, and then glanced up at me through his long black lashes, his ocher eyes scorching.**

**"Please?" he breathed, leaning toward me.**

**I blinked, my mind going blank. Holy crow, how did he do that?**

Edward grinned. "Well, I am rather amazing," he said smugly and we all rolled our eyes at him.

"Sure you are," Bella said nonchalantly before looking to me and grinning. "But she's perfect," she declared before kissing me quickly while Edward pouted playfully and Emmett pretended to console him.

**"Er, what?" I asked, dazed.**

**"Please tell me just one little theory." His eyes still smoldered at me.**

**"Um, well, bitten by a radioactive spider?" **

"Not bitten by a spider, no," Carlisle murmured wryly.

**Was he a hypnotist, too? Or was I just a hopeless pushover?**

**"That's not very creative," he scoffed.**

**"I'm sorry, that's all I've got," I said, miffed.**

**"You're not even close," he teased.**

**"No spiders?"**

**"Nope."**

**"And no radioactivity?"**

**"None."**

**"Dang," I sighed.**

**"Kryptonite doesn't bother me, either," he chuckled.**

**"You're not supposed to laugh, remember?"**

**He struggled to compose his face.**

**"I'll figure it out eventually," I warned him.**

**"I wish you wouldn't try." He was serious again.**

**"Because… ?"**

**"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" **

"Edward." Esme looked completely exasperated. First, she had Bella putting herself down in her thoughts and looking down on herself. And now she had Edward's own personal lost-souls-going-to-hell complex to deal with as well.

Edward sighed. "I'll work on it," he promised, responding to Esme's thoughts.

**He smiled playfully, but his eyes were** **impenetrable.**

**"Oh," I said, as several things he'd hinted fell suddenly into place. "I see."**

**"Do you?" His face was abruptly severe, as if he were afraid that he'd accidentally said too much.**

**"You're dangerous?" I guessed, my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words.**

**He was dangerous. He'd been trying to tell me that all along.**

**He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn't comprehend.**

**"But not bad," I whispered, shaking my head. "No, I don't believe that you're bad."**

Esme smiled. "You're right," she said softly, looking at her bronze-haired son who returned her smile.

**"You're wrong." His voice was almost inaudible. He looked down, stealing my bottle lid and then** **spinning it on its side between his fingers. I stared at him, wondering why I didn't feel afraid. He meant what he was saying — that was obvious. But I just felt anxious, on edge… and, more than anything else, fascinated. The same way I always felt when I was near him.**

**The silence lasted until I noticed that the cafeteria was almost empty.**

**I jumped to my feet. "We're going to be late."**

**"I'm not going to class today," he said, twirling the lid so fast it was just a blur.**

"Edward," Esme scolded him and he quickly apologized. I almost laughed. It really was hilarious the way that we all fell into line when faced with Esme. But she was just so loving and motherly that you kind of couldn't help it.

**"Why not?"**

**"It's healthy to ditch class now and then." He smiled up at me, but his eyes were still troubled.**

**"Well, I'm going," I told him. I was far too big a coward to risk getting caught.**

**He turned his attention back to his makeshift top. "I'll see you later, then."**

**I hesitated, torn, but then the first bell sent me hurrying out the door — with a last glance confirming that he hadn't moved a centimeter.**

**As I half-ran to class, my head was spinning faster than the bottle cap. So few questions had been** **answered in comparison to how many new questions had been raised. At least the rain had stopped.**

**I was lucky; Mr. Banner wasn't in the room yet when I arrived. I settled quickly into my seat, aware that both Mike and Angela were staring at me. Mike looked resentful; Angela looked surprised, and slightly awed.**

**Mr. Banner came in the room then, calling the class to order. He was juggling a few small cardboard** **boxes in his arms. He put them down on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around the class.**

**"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber** **gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicator —" he held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "— and the third is a sterile micro-lancet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped.**

My eyes widened slightly. No…

**"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to** **you." He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares.**

**"Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet…" He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed** **the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.**

I tried to hold back from smiling but I couldn't help it and a large grin covered my features. Was she really…

**"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." He demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger till the** **blood flowed. I swallowed convulsively, my stomach heaving.**

"You were afraid of blood," I said incredulously and Bella shifted uncomfortably against me before sighing.

"It's not so much that. It's just… You'll see," she sighed while Emmett grinned widely and everyone else smiled amusedly.

**"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my** **eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears.**

**"The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type." He sounded proud of himself. "Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission — I have slips at my desk."**

**He continued through the room with his water drops. I put my cheek against the cool black tabletop and tried to hold on to my consciousness. All around me I could hear squeals, complaints, and giggles as my classmates skewered their fingers. I breathed slowly in and out through my mouth.**

"Through your mouth?" Carlisle asked in confusion, mimicking the tone of my thoughts and the confusion on everyone else's faces.

Edward chuckled. "Trust me, you'll see," he assured him in a laughing voice while Bella shook her head and hid her face in the crook of my neck.

**"Bella, are you all right?" Mr. Banner asked. His voice was close to my head, and it sounded alarmed.**

**"I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner," I said in a weak voice. I was afraid to raise my head.**

**"Are you feeling faint?"**

**"Yes, sir," I muttered, internally kicking myself for not ditching when I had the chance.**

Esme smiled. "Normally, I would disagree but in this case I believe you're right, dear," Esme said and Bella muttered something along the lines of 'don't I know it'.

**"Can someone take Bella to the nurse, please?" he called.**

**I didn't have to look up to know that it would be Mike who volunteered.**

**"Can you walk?" Mr. Banner asked.**

**"Yes," I whispered. Just let me get out of here, I thought. I'll crawl.**

**Mike seemed eager as he put his arm around my waist and pulled my arm over his shoulder. **

I growled at the thought of that pathetic boy touching my mate. Bella snuggled a bit more into my side and placed a kiss against the skin of my neck, purring quietly to calm me. I relaxed almost instantly and a small smile made its way onto my face. I loved it when my mate purred for me.

**I leaned** **against him heavily on the way out of the classroom.**

**Mike towed me slowly across campus. When we were around the edge of the cafeteria, out of sight of building four in case Mr. Banner was watching, I stopped.**

**"Just let me sit for a minute, please?" I begged.**

**He helped me sit on the edge of the walk.**

**"And whatever you do, keep your hand in your pocket," I warned. I was still so dizzy. I slumped over on my side, putting my cheek against the freezing, damp cement of the sidewalk, closing my eyes.**

**That seemed to help a little.**

**"Wow, you're green, Bella," Mike said nervously.**

**"Bella?" a different voice called from the distance.**

**No! Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice.**

**"What's wrong — is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. I wasn't imagining it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to die. Or, at the very least, not to throw up.**

**Mike seemed stressed. "I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her** **finger."**

**"Bella." Edward's voice was right beside me, relieved now. "Can you hear me?"**

**"No," I groaned. "Go away."**

We all chuckled. Oh, Bella…

**He chuckled.**

**"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther."**

**"I'll take her," Edward said. I could hear the smile still in his voice. "You can go back to class."**

**"No," Mike protested. "I'm supposed to do it."**

**Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open in shock. Edward had** **scooped me up in his arms, as easily as if I weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred and ten.**

**"Put me down!" Please, please let me not vomit on him. **

**He was walking before I was finished talking.**

**"Hey!" Mike called, already ten paces behind us.**

**Edward ignored him. "You look awful," he told me, grinning.**

"Edward, remember you manners," Esme scolded and the vampire hung his slightly while I looked at him in annoyance. My mate was amazing.

**"Put me back on the sidewalk," I moaned. The rocking movement of his walk was not helping. He held me away from his body, gingerly, supporting all my weight with just his arms — it didn't seem to bother him.**

**"So you faint at the sight of blood?" he asked. This seemed to entertain him.**

**I didn't answer. I closed my eyes again and fought the nausea with all my strength, clamping my lips** **together.**

**"And not even your own blood," he continued, enjoying himself.**

**I don't know how he opened the door while carrying me, but it was suddenly warm, so I knew we were inside.**

**"Oh my," I heard a female voice gasp.**

**"She fainted in Biology," Edward explained.**

**I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The**

**grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung me into the room and placed me gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. **

**Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. His eyes were bright, excited.**

**"She's just a little faint," he reassured the startled nurse. "They're blood typing in Biology."**

**The nurse nodded sagely. "There's always one."**

Bella sighed. "And of course I would be that one," she said sadly and I smiled at her.

**He muffled a snicker.**

**"Just lie down for a minute, honey; it'll pass."**

**"I know," I sighed. The nausea was already fading.**

**"Does this happen a lot?" she asked.**

**"Sometimes," I admitted. Edward coughed to hide another laugh.**

**"You can go back to class now," she told him.**

**"I'm supposed to stay with her." He said this with such assured authority that — even though she pursed her lips — the nurse didn't argue it further.**

**"I'll go get you some ice for your forehead, dear," she said to me, and then bustled out of the room.**

**"You were right," I moaned, letting my eyes close.**

**"I usually am — but about what in particular this time?"**

**"Ditching is healthy." I practiced breathing evenly.**

"Only when absolutely necessary like on that day," Esme said sternly and we all nodded obediently. You don't cross Esme on things like this. Not unless you want to spend the whole day cleaning the entire house at human speed until it's up to Esme's standards of perfection. I shuddered mentally. Not. Fun.

**"You scared me for a minute there," he admitted after a pause. His tone made it sound like he was** **confessing a humiliating weakness. "I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."**

**"Ha ha." I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal every minute.**

**"Honestly — I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your** **murder."**

**"Poor Mike. I'll bet he's mad."**

**"He absolutely loathes me," Edward said cheerfully.**

**"You can't know that," I argued, but then I wondered suddenly if he could.**

Carlisle appeared shocked, as did everyone else but Bella herself. "You picked up on that?" he asked in shock and Bella nodded.

"Of course," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and my mouth dropped open slightly before I shook my head. No matter how many books containing her thoughts that I read, I would never fully understand the way that she saw things – and I loved her all the more for it.

**"I saw his face — I could tell."**

**"How did you see me? I thought you were ditching." I was almost fine now, though the queasiness would probably pass faster if I'd eaten something for lunch. On the other hand, maybe it was lucky my stomach was empty.**

**"I was in my car, listening to a CD." Such a normal response — it surprised me.**

**I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand.**

**"Here you go, dear." She laid it across my forehead. "You're looking better," she added.**

**"I think I'm fine," I said, sitting up. Just a little ringing in my ears, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should.**

**I could see she was about to make me lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms. Cope** **stuck her head in.**

**"We've got another one," she warned.**

**I hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid.**

**I handed the compress back to the nurse. "Here, I don't need this."**

**And then Mike staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephens, another boy in our Biology class. Edward and I drew back against the wall to give them room.**

**"Oh no," Edward muttered. "Go out to the office, Bella."**

**I looked up at him, bewildered.**

**"Trust me — go."**

**I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel Edward right behind me.**

**"You actually listened to me." He was stunned.**

Everyone chuckled at that.

**"I smelled the blood," I said, wrinkling my nose. Lee wasn't sick from watching other people, like me.**

My mouth, and everyone else but Edward and Bella's, fell open in shock.

"You… smelled the blood?" Carlisle's voice was full of surprise and Bella nodded.

"Yes," she said. "I've always been able to," Bella added and we all looked at her in amazement. I didn't know about anyone else but just one thing was running through my mind: she was human, right? I shook my head as Carlisle cleared his throat and went on.

**"People can't smell blood," he contradicted.**

**"Well, I can — that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust… and salt."**

"Hmm… Interesting," Carlisle muttered, and I could almost hear the wheels turning in his brain. I was a bit surprised. I never would have imagined that blood could smell like that to a human – or at all.

**He was staring at me with an unfathomable expression.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"It's nothing."**

**Mike came through the door then, glancing from me to Edward. **

**The look he gave Edward confirmed** **what Edward had said about loathing. He looked back at me, his eyes glum.**

**"You look better," he accused.**

**"Just keep your hand in your pocket," I warned him again.**

**"It's not bleeding anymore," he muttered. "Are you going back to class?"**

Emmett snorted. "Seriously?" he asked.

**"Are you kidding? I'd just have to turn around and come back."**

**"Yeah, I guess… So are you going this weekend? To the beach?" While he spoke, he flashed another** **glare toward Edward, who was standing against the cluttered counter, motionless as a sculpture, staring off into space.**

**I tried to sound as friendly as possible. "Sure, I said I was in."**

**"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten." His eyes flickered to Edward again, wondering if he was giving out too much information. His body language made it clear that it wasn't an open invitation.**

**"I'll be there," I promised.**

**"I'll see you in Gym, then," he said, moving uncertainly toward the door.**

**"See you," I replied. He looked at me once more, his round face slightly pouting, and then as he walked slowly through the door, his shoulders slumped. A swell of sympathy washed over me. I pondered seeing his disappointed face again… in Gym.**

**"Gym," I groaned.**

**"I can take care of that." I hadn't noticed Edward moving to my side, but he spoke now in my ear. "Go** **sit down and look pale," he muttered.**

**That wasn't a challenge; I was always pale, and my recent swoon had left a light sheen of sweat on my face. I sat in one of the creaky folding chairs and rested my head against the wall with my eyes closed.**

**Fainting spells always exhausted me.**

**I heard Edward speaking softly at the counter.**

**"Ms. Cope?"**

**"Yes?" I hadn't heard her return to her desk.**

**"Bella has Gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?" His voice was like melting honey. I could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be.**

**"Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?" Ms. Cope fluttered. **

**Why couldn't I do that?**

**"No, I have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind."**

**"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella," she called to me. I nodded weakly, hamming it up** **just a bit.**

I chuckled. "We'll have to work on your acting skills," I murmured in my mate's ear.

**"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" With his back to the receptionist, his expression became sarcastic.**

**"I'll walk."**

**I stood carefully, and I was still fine. He held the door for me, his smile polite but his eyes mocking. I** **walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall. It felt nice — the first time I'd enjoyed the constant moisture falling out of the sky — as it washed my face clean of the sticky perspiration.**

**"Thanks," I said as he followed me out. "It's almost worth getting sick to miss Gym."**

**"Anytime." He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain.**

**"So are you going? This Saturday, I mean?" I was hoping he would, though it seemed unlikely. I couldn't picture him loading up to carpool with the rest of the kids from school; he didn't belong in the same world. But just hoping that he might gave me the first twinge of enthusiasm I'd felt for the outing.**

**"Where are you all going, exactly?" He was still looking ahead, expressionless.**

**"Down to La Push, to First Beach." I studied his face, trying to read it. **

**His eyes seemed to narrow** **infinitesimally.**

**He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited."**

**I sighed. "I just invited you."**

**"Let's you and I not push poor Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap." His eyes** **danced; he was enjoying the idea more than he should.**

**"Mike-schmike." I muttered, preoccupied by the way he'd said "you and I." I liked it more than I should.**

**We were near the parking lot now. I veered left, toward my truck. Something caught my jacket, yanking me back.**

**"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, outraged. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one** **hand. **

"Edward," Esme looked appalled, while Carlisle looked disappointed. I just glared at the vampire in question, holding back a growl.

"You do not treat a lady that way, son," Carlisle said warningly and Edward hung his head.

"I know. I'm sorry, Bella, really," he apologized and Bella nodded at him. He looked to me then and I glared at him for a moment more before sighing slightly and giving the smallest of nods. He smiled in thanks and Carlisle shook his head before going on.

**I was confused. "I'm going home."**

**"Didn't you hear me promise to take you safely home? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your** **condition?" His voice was still indignant.**

**"What condition? And what about my truck?" I complained.**

**"I'll have Alice drop it off after school." He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacket. It was all I could do to keep from falling backward. He'd probably just drag me along anyway if I did.**

**"Let go!" I insisted. He ignored me. I staggered along sideways across the wet sidewalk until we reached the Volvo. Then he finally freed me — I stumbled against the passenger door.**

**"You are so pushy!" I grumbled.**

**"It's open," was all he responded. He got in the driver's side.**

**"I am perfectly capable of driving myself home!" I stood by the car, fuming. It was raining harder now, and I'd never put my hood up, so my hair was dripping down my back.**

**He lowered the automatic window and leaned toward me across the seat. "Get in, Bella."**

**I didn't answer. I was mentally calculating my chances of reaching the truck before he could catch me. I had to admit, they weren't good.**

**"I'll just drag you back," he threatened, guessing my plan.**

**I tried to maintain what dignity I could as I got into his car. I wasn't very successful — I looked like a** **half-drowned cat and my boots squeaked.**

**"This is completely unnecessary," I said stiffly.**

**He didn't answer. He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the parking lot, I was preparing to give him the silent treatment — my face in full pout mode — but then I recognized the music playing, and my curiosity got the better of my intentions.**

**"Clair de Lune?" I asked, surprised.**

**"You know Debussy?" He sounded surprised, too.**

**"Not well," I admitted. "My mother plays a lot of classical music around the house — I only know my** **favorites."**

**"It's one of my favorites, too." He stared out through the rain, lost in thought.**

**I listened to the music, relaxing against the light gray leather seat. It was impossible not to respond to the familiar, soothing melody. The rain blurred everything outside the window into gray and green smudges. I began to realize we were driving very fast; the car moved so steadily, so evenly, though, I didn't feel the speed. Only the town flashing by gave it away.**

**"What is your mother like?" he asked me suddenly.**

**I glanced over to see him studying me with curious eyes.**

**"She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier," I said. He raised his eyebrows. "I have too much Charlie in** **me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a** **very unpredictable cook. She's my best friend." I stopped. Talking about her was making me depressed.**

Esme smiled slightly at that but Bella shook her head and smiled.

"It's okay. I'll always love my mom and I do miss her, but now I have my mate, my family, _and _my best friend with me," Bella said, grinning at Alice, who danced over to hug her. We all smiled. Bella and Alice's friendship truly was a wonderful thing for the two of them and they spent a great deal of their free time together, whether they were alone or I or someone else was with them. It was nice.

**"How old are you, Bella?" **

**His voice sounded frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. He'd** **stopped the car, and I realized we were at Charlie's house already. The rain was so heavy that I could** **barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river.**

**"I'm seventeen," I responded, a little confused.**

**"You don't seem seventeen."**

**His tone was reproachful; it made me laugh.**

**"What?" he asked, curious again.**

**"My mom always says I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year." I** **laughed, and then sighed. "Well, someone has to be the adult." I paused for a second. "You don't seem** **much like a junior in high school yourself," I noted.**

**He made a face and changed the subject.**

**"So why did your mother marry Phil?"**

**I was surprised he would remember the name; I'd mentioned it just once, almost two months ago. It took me a moment to answer.**

**"My mother… she's very young for her age. I think Phil makes her feel even younger. At any rate, she's crazy about him." I shook my head. The attraction was a mystery to me.**

**"Do you approve?" he asked.**

**"Does it matter?" I countered. "I want her to be happy… and he is who she wants."**

Esme smiled. "That's very selfless, dear," she complimented and Bella just smiled and shook her head while I smiled down at her.

**"That's very generous… I wonder," he mused.**

**"What?"**

**"Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?" He was suddenly intent, his eyes searching mine.**

**"I-I think so," I stuttered. "But she's the parent, after all. It's a little bit different."**

**"No one too scary then," he teased.**

**I grinned in response. "What do you mean by scary? Multiple facial piercings and extensive tattoos?"**

**"That's one definition, I suppose."**

**"What's your definition?"**

**But he ignored my question and asked me another. "Do you think that I could be scary?" He raised one eyebrow, and the faint trace of a smile lightened his face.**

**I thought for a moment, wondering whether the truth or a lie would go over better. I decided to go with the truth. "Hmmm… I think you could be, if you wanted to."**

**"Are you frightened of me now?" The smile vanished, and his heavenly face was suddenly serious.**

**"No." But I answered too quickly. The smile returned.**

**"So, now are you going to tell me about your family?" I asked to distract him. "It's got to be a much more interesting story than mine."**

**He was instantly cautious. "What do you want to know?"**

**"The Cullens adopted you?" I verified.**

**"Yes."**

**I hesitated for a moment. "What happened to your parents?"**

**"They died many years ago." His tone was matter-of-fact.**

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled.**

**"I don't really remember them that clearly. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."**

**"And you love them." It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way he spoke of them.**

**"Yes." He smiled. "I couldn't imagine two better people."**

Esme and Carlisle both smiled while Edward looked at them sheepishly. I had to say that I agreed with him. They truly were the best parents that I could have asked for.

**"You're very lucky."**

**"I know I am."**

**"And your brother and sister?"**

**He glanced at the clock on the dashboard.**

**"My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me."**

**"Oh, sorry, I guess you have to go." I didn't want to get out of the car.**

**"And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him** **about the Biology incident." He grinned at me.**

**"I'm sure he's already heard. There are no secrets in Forks." I sighed.**

We all grinned. Well, just one little secret, actually…

**He laughed, and there was an edge to his laughter.**

**"Have fun at the beach… good weather for sunbathing." He glanced out at the sheeting rain.**

**"Won't I see you tomorrow?"**

**"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."**

**"What are you going to do?" A friend could ask that, right? I hoped the disappointment wasn't too** **apparent in my voice.**

**"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."**

**I remembered Charlie had said the Cullens went camping frequently.**

Emmett grinned. "Something like that," he laughed.

**"Oh, well, have fun." I tried to sound enthusiastic. I don't think I fooled him, though. A smile was playing around the edges of his lips.**

**"Will you do something for me this weekend?" He turned to look me straight in the face, utilizing the full power of his burning gold eyes.**

**I nodded helplessly.**

**"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet.** **So… try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?" He smiled crookedly.**

"I like that you don't try to dazzle me into doing things," Bella murmured quietly for only me to hear.

I gave her a quick kiss. I knew exactly what she meant. She had told me before that, while she did love Edward at one time, she always felt that he was too overbearing, that he would dazzle her into doing things and she felt like she lost herself a little since when he dazzled her it made her feel so weak. And I would never do that to her.

**The helplessness had faded as he spoke. I glared at him.**

**"I'll see what I can do," I snapped as I jumped out into the rain. I slammed the door behind me with** **excessive force.**

**He was still smiling as he drove away.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Carlisle said and Bella sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"How about we take a break and have everyone meet back here in about two hours?" Bella suggested and we all nodded in agreement.

"Would you like to go for a run with me?" I murmured in her ear and she nodded. We got up and made our way out of the house and into the forest. While I was enjoying reading the book, at the moment, I just wanted some time alone with my mate and I could see that she felt the same. And now we had two whole hours to ourselves, I grinned, and I planned to make the most of every second of it by just being with my mate.


	7. Scary Stories

**Chapter Seven: Scary Stories**

Bella

We ran through the forest, rushing through the trees with abandon, just reveling in being alone together. Eventually, I slowed slightly and we began to walk side by side together.

I let out a small sigh, taking Rosalie's hand in mine. "What do you think would have happened if we had realized then that we were mates?" I asked suddenly, the idea popping up out of nowhere.

Rose hummed in the back of her throat as we came to a stop in a small, shaded clearing and sat down together in the grass. "I don't know, really. I'm sure that everything would have worked out just fine, but… I don't know anything other than that," she shrugged, looking at me softly. "I love you," she murmured, reaching up to stroke the side of my face.

"I love you, too." I smiled at her and leaned forward to capture her lips with mine. "You know," I murmured. "We do have almost two hours to kill, and I was thinking…" I trailed off as Rose grinned and purred, pulling me to her and crashing our lips and bodies together. God, I loved being with my mate…

Once we were finished, we had just enough time to throw our clothes back on and run back to the house. We arrived just as the others were coming down the stairs and we all resumed our seats.

"How about I read next?" Edward offered and we all murmured our agreement while I curled into Rose's side and she wrapped one arm around me. Edward grabbed the book and began to read.

**Scary Stories**

**As I sat in my room, trying to concentrate on the third act of Macbeth, I was really listening for my truck. I would have thought, even over the pounding rain, I could have heard the engine's roar. But when I went to peek out the curtain — again — it was suddenly there.**

**I wasn't looking forward to Friday, and it more than lived up to my non-expectations. Of course there** **were the fainting comments. Jessica especially seemed to get a kick out of that story. Luckily Mike had kept his mouth shut, and no one seemed to know about Edward's involvement. She did have a lot of questions about lunch, though.**

**"So what did Edward Cullen want yesterday?" Jessica asked in Trig.**

**"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "He never really got to the point."**

**"You looked kind of mad," she fished.**

**"Did I?" I kept my expression blank.**

**"You know, I've never seen him sit with anyone but his family before. That was weird."**

**"Weird," I agreed. She seemed annoyed; she flipped her dark curls impatiently — I guessed she'd been hoping to hear something that would make a good story for her to pass on.**

Everyone laughed while I just smirked a little. They all looked at me and I put on an innocent expression. "What?" I asked, my eyes wide with false innocence and they all just laughed more. Even Esme and Carlisle chuckled and shook their heads at me.

**The worst part about Friday was that, even though I knew he wasn't going to be there, I still hoped.**

**When I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica and Mike, I couldn't keep from looking at his table, where Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper sat talking, heads close together. And I couldn't stop the gloom that engulfed me as I realized I didn't know how long I would have to wait before I saw him again.**

**At my usual table, everyone was full of our plans for the next day. Mike was animated again, putting a** **great deal of trust in the local weatherman who promised sun tomorrow. I'd have to see that before I** **believed it. But it was warmer today — almost sixty. Maybe the outing wouldn't be completely** **miserable.**

**I intercepted a few unfriendly glances from Lauren during lunch, which I didn't understand until we were all walking out of the room together. I was right behind her, just a foot from her slick, silver blond hair, and she was evidently unaware of that.**

**"…don't know why Bella" — she sneered my name — "doesn't just sit with the Cullens from now on."**

Rose growled. "I really hate that girl," she muttered quietly while I struggled to hold back a smile and nodded in agreement. I glanced at Edward and motioned for him to read on.

**I heard her muttering to Mike. I'd never noticed what an unpleasant, nasal voice she had, and I was** **surprised by the malice in it. I really didn't know her well at all, certainly not well enough for her to dislike me — or so I'd thought. "She's my friend; she sits with us," Mike whispered back loyally, but also a bit territorially. I paused to let Jess and Angela pass me. I didn't want to hear any more.**

**That night at dinner, Charlie seemed enthusiastic about my trip to La Push in the morning. I think he felt guilty for leaving me home alone on the weekends, but he'd spent too many years building his habits to break them now. Of course he knew the names of all the kids going, and their parents, and their great-grandparents, too, probably. He seemed to approve. I wondered if he would approve of my plan to ride to Seattle with Edward Cullen. Not that I was going to tell him.**

**"Dad, do you know a place called Goat Rocks or something like that? I think it's south of Mount Rainier," I asked casually.**

**"Yeah — why?"**

**I shrugged. "Some kids were talking about camping there."**

**"It's not a very good place for camping." He sounded surprised. **

**"Too many bears. Most people go there during the hunting season."**

**"Oh," I murmured. "Maybe I got the name wrong."**

Carlisle looked at me curiously. "But you didn't really mean that, did you?" he murmured, more looking for confirmation than asking a question.

"No, I didn't," I shook my head and watched in amusement as excitement glinted in his eyes. Whatever he was thinking, I had a feeling it wouldn't be much longer until he decided to tell everyone.

**I meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. I opened my eyes to see a clear yellow light** **streaming through my window. I couldn't believe it. I hurried to the window to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. It was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn't seem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun. Clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. I lingered by the window as long as I could, afraid that if I left the blue would disappear** **again.**

**The Newtons' Olympic Outfitters store was just north of town. **

**I'd seen the store, but I'd never stopped there — not having much need for any supplies required for being outdoors over an extended period of time . In the parking lot I recognized Mike's Suburban and Tyler's Sentra. As I pulled up next to their vehicles, I could see the group standing around in front of the Suburban. Eric was there, along with two other boys I had class with; I was fairly sure their names were Ben and Conner. Jess was there, flanked by Angela and Lauren. Three other girls stood with them, including one I remembered falling over in Gym on Friday. That one gave me a dirty look as I got out of the truck, and whispered something to Lauren.**

Esme frowned. "Someone really ought to have taught those girls some proper manners," she said disapprovingly and I grinned at her. She turned to me then. "I'm glad that you're not like that, dear," she said, smiling at me.

I laughed softly and returned her smile. "Thank you, Mom," I replied and she beamed at me. I didn't always call her 'Mom' but I made more of an effort to do it at least on a daily basis than my siblings did, generally.

**Lauren shook out her cornsilk hair and eyed me scornfully.**

**So it was going to be one of those days.**

**At least Mike was happy to see me.**

**"You came!" he called, delighted. "And I said it would be sunny today, didn't I?"**

**"I told you I was coming," I reminded him.**

**"We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha… unless you invited someone," Mike added.**

**"Nope," I lied lightly, hoping I wouldn't get caught in the lie. But also wishing that a miracle would occur, and Edward would appear.**

**Mike looked satisfied.**

Rose snorted. "Oh, who cares?" she muttered, just loud enough for me to hear and I turned to kiss her cheek, grinning at her as I pulled back.

**"Will you ride in my car? It's that or Lee's mom's minivan."**

**"Sure."**

**He smiled blissfully. It was so easy to make Mike happy.**

**"You can have shotgun," he promised. I hid my chagrin. It wasn't as simple to make Mike and Jessica** **happy at the same time. I could see Jessica glowering at us now.**

**The numbers worked out in my favor, though. Lee brought two extra people, and suddenly every seat** **was necessary. I managed to wedge Jess in between Mike and me in the front seat of the Suburban.**

**Mike could have been more graceful about it, but at least Jess seemed appeased.**

**It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quileute River snaking beneath it twice. I was glad I had the window seat.**

**We'd rolled the windows down — the Suburban was a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it — and I tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible.**

I smirked. "I certainly needed it," I muttered and my siblings grinned at me while our parents smiled indulgently and nodded.

**I'd been to the beaches around La Push many times during my Forks summers with Charlie, so the** **mile-long crescent of First Beach was familiar to me. It was still breathtaking. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs.**

**The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves.**

**There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while** **seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at**

**any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.**

Esme looked awed. "It sounds beautiful," she said, smiling serenely and I couldn't help but smile, too.

"Yes, it's incredible," I agreed. "But not as amazing as your island," I added and both Carlisle and Esme beamed at me while I smiled at Rose who smirked at me. The two of us had some _very _good memories on that island… I shivered slightly before my brother began reading again.

**We picked our way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that had** **obviously been used for parties like ours before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and the boy I thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.**

**"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked me. I was sitting on one of the bone-colored** **benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side of me. Mike kneeled by the fire,**

**lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.**

**"No," I said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.**

**"You'll like this then — watch the colors." **

**He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first.**

**The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.**

**"It's blue," I said in surprise.**

**"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and** **then came to sit by me. Thankfully, Jess was on his other side. She turned to him and claimed his** **attention. I watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky.**

Alice looked excited and turned to our parents with pleading eyes. "Please, please Mommy and Daddy can we get some driftwood and have one of those fires?" she begged and the rest of us 'kids' put on our puppy dog pouts and wide eyes.

Esme and Carlisle opened their mouths to speak, glanced around at all of us, sighed, exchanged an amused/frustrated glance – and promptly gave in. "Yes, Alice, we may have a driftwood fire," Carlisle said adoringly and Alice squealed and launched herself at him and Esme, hugging them fiercely.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Alice grinned and returned to Jasper's side while we all exchanged grins and laughed quietly at our sister's antics.

**After a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to hike to the nearby tidal pools. It was a dilemma.**

**On the one hand, I loved the tide pools. They had fascinated me since I was a child; they were one of the only things I ever looked forward to when I had to come to Forks. On the other hand, I'd also fallen into them a lot. **

**Not a big deal when you're seven and with your dad. It reminded me of Edward's request — that I not fall into the ocean.**

**Lauren was the one who made my decision for me. She didn't want to hike, and she was definitely** **wearing the wrong shoes for it. Most of the other girls besides Angela and Jessica decided to stay on the beach as well. I waited until Tyler and Eric had committed to remaining with them before I got up quietly to join the pro-hiking group. Mike gave me a huge smile when he saw that I was coming.**

**The hike wasn't too long, though I hated to lose the sky in the woods. The green light of the forest was strangely at odds with the adolescent laughter, too murky and ominous to be in harmony with the light banter around me. I had to watch each step I took very carefully, avoiding roots below and branches above, and I soon fell behind. Eventually I broke through the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shore again. It was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past us on its way to the sea.**

**Along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completely drained were teeming with life.**

**I was very cautious not to lean too far over the little ocean ponds. **

**The others were fearless, leaping over the rocks, perching precariously on the edges. I found a very stable-looking rock on the fringe of one of the largest pools and sat there cautiously, spellbound by the natural aquarium below me. The bouquets of brilliant anemones undulated ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the edges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to the rocks and each other, while one small black eel with white racing stripes wove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return.**

**I was completely absorbed, except for one small part of my mind that wondered what Edward was doing now, and trying to imagine what he would be saying if he were here with me.**

I raised my eyebrow. "Most likely just confusing me even more," I said teasingly and Edward mock-glared at me.

"I would never!" he cried in mock offense, while everyone just grinned at us.

**Finally the boys were hungry, and I got up stiffly to follow them back. I tried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally I fell a few times. I got some shallow scrapes on my palms, and the** **knees of my jeans were stained green, but it could have been worse.**

**When we got back to First Beach, the group we'd left behind had multiplied. As we got closer we could see the shining, straight black hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation come to socialize.**

**The food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim a share while Eric introduced us as we each entered the driftwood circle. Angela and I were the last to arrive, and, as Eric said our names, I noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me in interest. I sat down next to Angela, and Mike brought us sandwiches and an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be the oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with him. All I caught was that one of the girls was also named Jessica, and the boy who noticed me was named Jacob.**

**It was relaxing to sit with Angela; she was a restful kind of person to be around — she didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter. She left me free to think undisturbed while we ate. And I was thinking about how disjointedly time seemed to flow in Forks, passing in a blur at times, with single** **images standing out more clearly than others. And then, at other times, every second was significant,** **etched in my mind. I knew exactly what caused the difference, and it disturbed me.**

I hummed deep in my throat and shook my head. "I didn't know it as well as I thought," I murmured and my family gave me curious looks.

"What do you mean, dear?" Esme asked.

I sighed. "I thought that it was just Edward that made the difference, that made things stand out for me. But what I didn't realize is that… The only times that really stood out were when the rest of the family was near. When Rose was near," I explained, taking her hand in mine and looking over to see her smiling at me.

"Well, it would seem that your subconscious knew that you were mates before either you even suspected it," Carlisle mused. "But that's just it. Neither of you suspected it, so you didn't realize it fully," he finished and I nodded. It made sense to me.

"Go ahead and read, Edward," I told him and he nodded at me.

**During lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky, darting in front of the sun** **momentarily, casting long shadows across the beach, and blackening the waves. As they finished eating, people started to drift away in twos and threes. Some walked down to the edge of the waves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy surface. Others were gathering a second expedition to the tide pools. Mike — with Jessica shadowing him — headed up to the one shop in the village. Some of the local kids went with them; others went along on the hike. By the time they all had scattered, I was sitting alone on my driftwood log, with Lauren and Tyler occupying themselves by the CD player someone had thought to bring, and three teenagers from the reservation perched around the circle, including the boy named Jacob and the oldest boy who had acted as spokesperson.**

**A few minutes after Angela left with the hikers, Jacob sauntered over to take her place by my side.**

**He looked fourteen, maybe fifteen, and had long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful, silky and russet-colored; his eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. He still had just a hint of childish roundness left around his chin.**

**Altogether, a very pretty face. However, my positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the first** **words out of his mouth.**

"What did he say?" Jasper asked but I just grimaced and shook my head.

**"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"**

Everyone laughed at that. They all knew how much I hated being called Isabella. Fortunately, they also knew me well enough to know not to risk calling me that, either. Although, Rose and Esme were the only exceptions. Rose because she was my mate and Esme because she was my mother, even more so than Renee who was more my child than I was hers though I loved her no less for it.

**It was like the first day of school all over again.**

**"Bella," I sighed.**

**"I'm Jacob Black." He held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "You bought my dad's truck."**

**"Oh," I said, relieved, shaking his sleek hand. "You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you."**

**"No, I'm the youngest of the family — you would remember my older sisters."**

**"Rachel and Rebecca," I suddenly recalled. Charlie and Billy had thrown us together a lot during my** **visits, to keep us busy while they fished. We were all too shy to make much progress as friends. Of**

**course, I'd kicked up enough tantrums to end the fishing trips by the time I was eleven.**

My family all looked shocked. "What?" I asked, though I was certain that I knew what had surprised them so much.

"You… threw a tantrum?" Alice asked incredulously and I laughed.

"Yes, Alice, I did," I said in amusement and Esme frowned slightly.

"Bella, you shouldn't have thrown a tantrum just because you didn't want to go fishing," she reprimanded lightly and I nodded.

"I'm sorry, Esme. I only ever threw tantrums in absolute worst case scenarios. I… Well, I obviously was a very accident-prone human and it was even worse when I was younger. Every time that Charlie took me fishing – and I do mean every time – I managed to come back with an injury of some kind and it gets a little tiresome after a while," I confessed and she smiled at me gently.

"Well, I can understand that. Keep reading, Edward," she said, smiling at her 'firstborn'.

**"Are they here?" I examined the girls at the ocean's edge, wondering if I would recognize them now.**

**"No." Jacob shook his head. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer — she lives in Hawaii now."**

**"Married. Wow." I was stunned. The twins were only a little over a year older than I was.**

**"So how do you like the truck?" he asked.**

**"I love it. It runs great."**

**"Yeah, but it's really slow," he laughed. "I was so relieved when Charlie bought it. My dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there."**

**"It's not that slow," I objected.**

**"Have you tried to go over sixty?"**

**"No," I admitted.**

**"Good. Don't." He grinned.**

**I couldn't help grinning back. "It does great in a collision," I offered in my truck's defense.**

**"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed with another laugh.**

**"So you build cars?" I asked, impressed.**

**"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a** **master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" he added jokingly. He had a pleasant, husky voice.**

Rose growled quietly and I turned to kiss her quickly. God, I loved it when Rose was jealous. It just made her seem even more hot. I grinned when we pulled back.

"Your voice is perfect," I whispered in her ear so that only she could hear me.

**"Sorry," I laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes open for you." As if I knew what that was. **

**He was very easy to talk with.**

**He flashed a brilliant smile, looking at me appreciatively in a way I was learning to recognize. I wasn't the only one who noticed.**

**"You know Bella, Jacob?" Lauren asked — in what I imagined was an insolent tone — from across the fire.**

**"We've sort of known each other since I was born," he laughed, smiling at me again.**

**"How nice." She didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.**

**"Bella," she called again, watching my face carefully, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?" Her expression of concern was unconvincing.**

**"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked before I could respond, much to** **Lauren's irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.**

**"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.**

**"The Cullens don't come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.**

**Tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked Lauren's opinion on a CD he held. She was distracted.**

**I stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking away toward the dark forest behind** **us. He'd said that the Cullens didn't come here, but his tone had implied something more — that they** **weren't allowed; they were prohibited. His manner left a strange impression on me, and I tried to ignore it without success.**

**Jacob interrupted my meditation. "So is Forks driving you insane yet?"**

**"Oh, I'd say that's an understatement." I grimaced. He grinned **

**understandingly.**

**I was still turning over the brief comment on the Cullens, and I had a sudden inspiration. It was a stupid plan, but I didn't have any better ideas. I hoped that young Jacob was as yet inexperienced around girls, so that he wouldn't see through my sure-to-be-pitiful attempts at flirting.**

I groaned and hid my head in Rose's hair while all my siblings grinned.

**"Do you want to walk down the beach with me?" I asked, trying to imitate that way Edward had of** **looking up from underneath his eyelashes. It couldn't have nearly the same effect, I was sure, but Jacob jumped up willingly enough.**

**As we walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwood seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea to darken and the temperature to drop. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket.**

**"So you're, what, sixteen?" I asked, trying not to look like an idiot as I fluttered my eyelids the way I'd** **seen girls do on TV.**

**"I just turned fifteen," he confessed, flattered.**

**"Really?" My face was full of false surprise. "I would have thought you were older."**

**"I'm tall for my age," he explained.**

**"Do you come up to Forks much?" I asked archly, as if I was hoping for a yes. I sounded idiotic to** **myself. I was afraid he would turn on me with disgust and accuse me of my fraud, but he still seemed**

**flattered.**

I heard my siblings chuckles and felt the rumble of laughter in my mate's chest. I sighed and sat back up, glaring at them all lightly – except for Rose.

**"Not too much," he admitted with a frown. "But when I get my car finished I can go up as much as I want — after I get my license," he amended.**

**"Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? He seemed a little old to be hanging out with us." I** **purposefully lumped myself in with the youngsters, trying to make it clear that I preferred Jacob.**

Alice smiled. "Very good, Bella," she praised me and I just shook my head in exasperation.

**"That's Sam — he's nineteen," he informed me.**

**"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.**

**"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." He looked away, out toward** **James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought I'd heard in Sam's voice.**

**"Why not?"**

**He glanced back at me, biting his lip. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say anything about that."**

**"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." I tried to make my smile alluring, wondering if I was laying it on too thick.**

**He smiled back, though, looking allured. Then he lifted one eyebrow and his voice was even huskier than before.**

Esme giggled slightly and I just sighed lightly. "You're very good at that, dear," she said teasingly, smiling at me. I shook my head, silently begging for this chapter to be over.

**"Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.**

**"I love them," I enthused, making an effort to smolder at him.**

**Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots while I sat beneath him on the body of the tree. He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his broad lips. I could see he was going to try to make this good. I focused on keeping the vital interest I felt out of my eyes.**

**"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the Quileutes, I mean?" he began.**

**"Not really," I admitted.**

**"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood — supposedly, the** **ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them.**

**"Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a little lower.**

**"The cold ones?" I asked, not faking my intrigue now.**

**"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent.**

**According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the** **treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes.**

**"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged.**

**"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."**

**"Werewolves have enemies?"**

**"Only one."**

**I stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience as admiration.**

**"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to** **our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their** **kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce** **with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-**

**faces."** **He winked at me.**

**"If they weren't dangerous, then why… ?" I tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how** **seriously I was considering his ghost story.**

**"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was.** **You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." He deliberately worked a thick edge of** **menace into his tone.**

**"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"**

**"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals** **instead."**

**I tried to keep my voice casual. "So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"**

**"No." He paused dramatically. "They are the same ones."**

**He must have thought the expression on my face was fear inspired by his story. He smiled, pleased, and continued.**

**"There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my** **great-grandfather's time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before your people had even arrived." He was fighting a smile.**

**"And what are they?" I finally asked. "What are the cold ones?"**

**He smiled darkly.**

**"Blood drinkers," he replied in a chilling voice. "Your people call them vampires."**

Everyone was silent. They already knew that Jacob had told me, but to actually hear it, hear the way that he broke the treaty… They didn't like it, and now I could absolutely understand that. After a moment, Carlisle motioned Edward to read on.

**I stared out at the rough surf after he answered, not sure what my face was exposing.**

**"You have goose bumps," he laughed delightedly.**

**"You're a good storyteller," I complimented him, still staring into the waves.**

**"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."**

**I couldn't control my expression enough to look at him yet. "Don't worry, I won't give you away."**

**"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed.**

Esme frowned. "He shouldn't be joking around about that. If we were more vengeful like others of our kind, he could have gotten a number of his tribe members killed," she said worriedly.

"I'm sure that he understands that now, and I'm certain that they'll start warning the younger kids on the reservation not to talk about it no matter what. Warn them that it could cause trouble," I said reassuringly and she smiled at me and nodded.

**"I'll take it to the grave," I promised, and then I shivered.**

**"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad at my dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since Dr. Cullen started working there."**

**"I won't, of course not."**

**"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" he asked in a playful tone, but with a** **hint of worry. I still hadn't looked away from the ocean.**

**I turned and smiled at him as normally as I could.**

**"No. I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still have goose bumps, see?" I held up my arm.**

**"Cool." He smiled.**

**And then the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each other warned us that someone was** **approaching. Our heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away,**

**walking toward us.**

**"There you are, Bella," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head.**

**"Is that your boyfriend?" Jacob asked, alerted by the jealous edge in Mike's voice. I was surprised it was so obvious.**

"No," Rose snapped possessively wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer. I grinned at her and kissed her cheek.

**"No, definitely not," I whispered. I was tremendously grateful to Jacob, and eager to make him as happy as possible. I winked at him, carefully turning away from Mike to do so. He smiled, elated by my inept flirting.**

**"So when I get my license…" he began.**

**"You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime." I felt guilty as I said this, knowing** **that I'd used him. **

**But I really did like Jacob. He was someone I could easily be friends with.**

**Mike had reached us now, with Jessica still a few paces back. I could see his eyes appraising Jacob, and looking satisfied at his obvious youth.**

**"Where have you been?" he asked, though the answer was right in front of him.**

**"Jacob was just telling me some local stories," I volunteered. "It was really interesting."**

**I smiled at Jacob warmly, and he grinned back.**

**"Well," Mike paused, carefully reassessing the situation as he watched our camaraderie. "We're packing up — it looks like it's going to rain soon."**

**We all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.**

**"Okay." I jumped up. "I'm coming."**

**"It was nice to see you again," Jacob said, and I could tell he was taunting Mike just a bit.**

Rose smirked. "Good dog," she said in satisfaction and we all just grinned at her smug expression.

**"It really was. Next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I'll come, too," I promised.**

**His grin stretched across his face. "That would be cool."**

**"And thanks," I added earnestly.**

**I pulled up my hood as we tramped across the rocks toward the parking lot. A few drops were** **beginning to fall, making black spots on the stones where they landed. When we got to the Suburban the others were already loading everything back in. I crawled into the backseat by Angela and Tyler,** **announcing that I'd already had my turn in the shotgun position. **

**Angela just stared out the window at the escalating storm, and Lauren twisted around in the middle seat to occupy Tyler's attention, so I could simply lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes and try very hard not to think.**

"That was the end of it," Edward said, passing the book to his mate. "Your turn, Em," he said.

Emmett grinned widely. "Alright! Hey, can we act out what happens in the chapter?!" he asked excitedly, but he deflated when we all shook our heads and vetoed the idea. He pouted. "Fine, I'll just read…"

I grinned and turned to kiss Rose quickly. Well, here goes chapter seven…


	8. Nightmare

**A/N: Just to let everyone know – there will be minor edits to the original Twilight chapter which will be found within the book text but NOT bolded. Thanks for reading everyone!**

**Chapter Eight: Nightmare**

Bella

**Nightmare,** Emmett read and I thought for a moment before it came to me. Of course. My dream…

**I told Charlie I had a lot of homework to do, and that I didn't want anything to eat. There was a basketball game on that he was excited about, though of course I had no idea what was special about it, so he wasn't aware of anything unusual in my face or tone.**

**Once in my room, I locked the door. I dug through my desk until I found my old headphones, and I plugged them into my little CD player. I picked up a CD that Phil had given to me for Christmas. **

**It was one of his favorite bands, but they used a little too much bass and shrieking for my tastes. I popped it into place and lay down on my bed. I put on the headphones, hit Play, and turned up the volume until it hurt my ears. **

Carlisle frowned and I grimaced slightly and silently apologized to him with my eyes to which he sighed quietly and nodded, giving me a small smile.

**I closed my eyes, but the light still intruded, so I added a pillow over the top half of my face.**

**I concentrated very carefully on the music, trying to understand the lyrics, to unravel the complicated drum patterns. By the third time **

**I'd listened through the CD, I knew all the words to the choruses, at least. I was surprised to find that I really did like the band after all, once I got past the blaring noise. I'd have to thank Phil again.**

**And it worked. The shattering beats made it impossible for me to think — which was the whole purpose of the exercise. I listened to the CD again and again, until I was singing along with all the songs, until, finally, I fell asleep.**

**I opened my eyes to a familiar place. Aware in some corner of my consciousness that I was dreaming, I recognized the green light of the forest. I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks somewhere nearby.**

**And I knew that if I found the ocean, I'd be able to see the sun. I was trying to follow the sound, but then Jacob Black was there, tugging on my hand, pulling me back toward the blackest part of the forest.**

Everyone was surprised by that. "Jacob was in your dream?" Rose asked, too stunned to be jealous right now. I simply nodded. They would understand soon.

**"Jacob? What's wrong?" I asked. His face was frightened as he yanked with all his strength against my resistance; I didn't want to go into the dark.**

Emmett opened his mouth to comment and I raised one eyebrow at him, my expression a clear warning to him to back off right now. He closed his mouth and looked back to the book and I smirked.

**"Run, Bella, you have to run!" he whispered, terrified.**

**"This way, Bella!" I recognized Mike's voice calling out of the gloomy heart of the trees, but I couldn't see him.**

Everyone but Carlisle and Esme's faces showed disgust and sympathy. Emmett chuckled. "Well, now we know why it's called a nightmare," he said, pretending to shudder in horror at the thought of dreaming about Mike, making me grin and shake my head at him.

**"Why?" I asked, still pulling against Jacob's grasp, desperate now to find the sun.**

**But Jacob let go of my hand and yelped, suddenly shaking, falling to the dim forest floor. He twitched on the ground as I watched in horror.**

Everyone was silent for a moment and I could see the questions in their eyes. Carlisle spoke up first. "You knew that that part of the legend was true as well," he stated and I nodded.

"Yes. I never really consciously acknowledged it, but I knew. I just… felt it, somehow," I shrugged, unsure of how to explain and his eyes lit up. I sighed. I just couldn't take it anymore. "Carlisle, would you care to tell us what has you so excited?"

He grinned sheepishly but nodded. "I've been going through it over and over again in my head and it just… none of it adds up the way that it should," he confessed and we all looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean, darling?" Esme asked and he smiled.

"I mean, in all honesty, Bella should never have been able to find out what we are. A normal human wouldn't have been able to find out what we are," he began but was interrupted by Emmett.

"But she wasn't a normal human," he pointed out and Carlisle grinned fiercely.

"Exactly! She was never normal because she was never meant to be human. She fit so well into our world because it was always hers, too. She was meant to be a part of it." Carlisle turned to me now and smiled. "You were meant to be a vampire," he said softly and I couldn't help it – I grinned at him.

Everyone smiled and Rose chuckled quietly, her arms winding around me in a soft embrace. "Is that what you've been getting all excited about?" she asked but didn't give him a chance to answer, pausing only for a second to shake her head. "I could have told you that a long time ago," she said quietly, a bit of sadness in her golden gaze. I smiled back at her, leaning to kiss her cheek softly.

The family agreed and I shook my head, thanking them, before Emmett continued reading.

**"Jacob!" I screamed. But he was gone. In his place was a large red-brown wolf with black eyes.**

**The wolf faced away from me, pointing toward the shore, the hair on the back of his shoulders bristling, low growls issuing from between his exposed fangs.**

**"Bella, run!" Mike cried out again from behind me. But I didn't turn. I was watching a light coming toward me from the beach.**

**And then Edward stepped out from the trees, his skin faintly glowing, his eyes black and dangerous.**

Even after Carlisle's 'new' revelation, they were all shocked that I somehow knew that, but I just shrugged it off. I couldn't explain it. I just… knew.

**He held up one hand and beckoned me to come to him. The wolf growled at my feet.**

**I took a step forward, toward Edward. He smiled then, and his teeth were sharp, pointed.**

**"Trust me," he purred.**

**I took another step.**

Then the image of the vampire wavered, shifting ever so slightly. The bronze hair faded, replaced by golden blond tresses that hung down the vampire's back. I couldn't see who it was, but I could feel… something. It took my breath away. And then I watched as **The wolf launched himself across the space between me and the vampire, fangs aiming for the jugular.**

**"No!" I screamed, wrenching upright out of my bed.**

I glanced over

**My sudden movement caused the headphones to pull the CD player off the bedside table, and it clattered to the wooden floor.**

**My light was still on, and I was sitting fully dressed on the bed, with my shoes on. I glanced, disoriented, at the clock on my dresser. It was five-thirty in the morning.**

**I groaned, fell back, and rolled over onto my face, kicking off my boots. I was too uncomfortable to get anywhere near sleep, though. I rolled back over and unbuttoned my jeans, yanking them off awkwardly as I tried to stay horizontal. **

**I could feel the braid in my hair, an uncomfortable ridge along the back of my skull. I turned onto my side and ripped the rubber band out, quickly combing through the plaits with my fingers. I pulled the pillow back over my eyes.**

**It was all no use, of course. My subconscious had dredged up exactly the images I'd been trying so desperately to avoid. I was going to have to face them now.**

**I sat up, and my head spun for a minute as the blood flowed downward. First things first, I thought to myself, happy to put it off as long as possible. I grabbed my bathroom bag.**

**The shower didn't last nearly as long as I hoped it would, though. Even taking the time to blow-dry my hair, I was soon out of things to do in the bathroom. Wrapped in a towel, I crossed back to my room. I couldn't tell if Charlie was still asleep, or if he had already left. I went to look out my window, and the cruiser was gone. Fishing again.**

**I dressed slowly in my most comfy sweats and then made my bed — something I never did. I couldn't put it off any longer. I went to my desk and switched on my old computer.**

Emmett grinned. "Researching us on the internet, little sis? Really?" he teased, laughing loudly. I just shook my head at him.

**I hated using the Internet here. My modem was sadly outdated, my free service substandard; just dialing up took so long that I decided to go get myself a bowl of cereal while I waited.**

**I ate slowly, chewing each bite with care. When I was done, I washed the bowl and spoon, dried them, and put them away. My feet dragged as I climbed the stairs. I went to my CD player first, picking it up off the floor and placing it precisely in the center of the table. I pulled out the headphones, and put them away in the desk drawer. Then I turned the same CD on, turning it down to the point where it was background noise.**

**With another sigh, I turned to my computer. Naturally, the screen was covered in pop-up ads. I sat in my hard folding chair and began closing all the little windows. Eventually I made it to my favorite search engine. I shot down a few more pop-ups and then typed in one word.**

**Vampire.**

**It took an infuriatingly long time, of course. When the results came up, there was a lot to sift through — everything from movies and TV shows to role-playing games, underground metal, and gothic cosmetic companies.**

**Then I found a promising site — Vampires A—Z.**

Carlisle looked curious at that. "Did they get anything right?" he questioned and I just smirked and shook my head.

**I waited impatiently for it to load, quickly clicking closed each ad that flashed across the screen. Finally the screen was finished — simple white background with black text, academic-looking. Two quotes greeted me on the home page:**

**Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. — Rev. Montague Summers**

**If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of the vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires? — Rousseau**

**The rest of the site was an alphabetized listing of all the different myths of vampires held throughout the world. The first I clicked on, the Danag, was a Filipino vampire supposedly responsible for planting taro on the islands long ago. The myth continued that the Danag worked with humans for many years, but the partnership ended one day when a woman cut her finger and a Danag sucked her wound, enjoying the taste so much that it drained her body completely of blood.**

Everyone was slightly surprised and Jasper looked a little sick, no doubt thinking about what happened on my birthday years ago. I gave him a significant look and smiled at him, showing him through my emotions that I forgave him, I wasn't mad.

**I read carefully through the descriptions, looking for anything that sounded familiar, let alone plausible. It seemed that most vampire myths centered around beautiful women as demons and children as victims; they also seemed like constructs created to explain away the high mortality rates for young children, and to give men an excuse for infidelity.**

**Many of the stories involved bodiless spirits and warnings against improper burials. There wasn't much that sounded like the movies I'd seen, and only a very few, like the Hebrew Estrie and the Polish Upier, who were even preoccupied with drinking blood.**

**Only three entries really caught my attention: the Romanian Varacolaci, a powerful undead being who could appear as a beautiful, pale-skinned human, the Slovak Nelapsi, a creature so strong and fast it could massacre an entire village in the single hour after midnight, and one other, the Stregoni Benefici.**

**About this last there was only one brief sentence.**

**Stregoni benefici: An Italian vampire, said to be on the side of goodness, and a mortal enemy of all evil vampires.**

Everyone was shocked now. "They actually got some of it right. They just scattered the pieces over several different myths…" Carlisle trailed off in amazement and I grinned at them.

Esme looked to me with a half-amused, half-proud expression on her face. "Of course, you would be the one to find and pick out the truth among the fiction," she said warmly and I smiled at her.

"I had seen it all for myself, so I really just needed to confirm what I already knew," I shrugged.

**It was a relief, that one small entry, the one myth among hundreds that claimed the existence of good vampires.**

**Overall, though, there was little that coincided with Jacob's stories or my own observations. I'd made a little catalogue in my mind as I'd read and carefully compared it with each myth. Speed, strength, beauty, pale skin, eyes that shift color; and then Jacob's criteria: blood drinkers, enemies of the werewolf, cold-skinned, and immortal. There were very few myths that matched even one factor.**

**And then another problem, one that I'd remembered from the small number of scary movies that I'd seen and was backed up by today's reading — vampires couldn't come out in the daytime, the sun would burn them to a cinder.**

We all laughed at that. It was just so ridiculous – although I have a feeling that if people knew that we really sparkled, well…

**They slept in coffins all day and came out only at night.**

**Aggravated, I snapped off the computer's main power switch, not waiting to shut things down properly.**

**Through my irritation, I felt overwhelming embarrassment. It was all so stupid. I was sitting in my room, researching vampires. What was wrong with me?**

**I decided that most of the blame belonged on the doorstep of the town of Forks — and the entire sodden Olympic Peninsula, for that matter.**

**I had to get out of the house, but there was nowhere I wanted to go that didn't involve a three-day drive.**

**I pulled on my boots anyway, unclear where I was headed, and went downstairs. I shrugged into my raincoat without checking the weather and stomped out the door.**

**It was overcast, but not raining yet. I ignored my truck and started east on foot, angling across Charlie's yard toward the ever-encroaching forest. It didn't take long till I was deep enough for the house and the road to be invisible, for the only sound to be the squish of the damp earth under my feet and the sudden cries of the jays.**

**There was a thin ribbon of a trail that led through the forest here, or I wouldn't risk wandering on my own like this.**

**My sense of direction was hopeless; I could get lost in much less helpful surroundings. The trail wound deeper and deeper into the forest, mostly east as far as I could tell. It snaked around the Sitka spruces and the hemlocks, the yews and the maples. **

**I only vaguely knew the names of the trees around me, and all I knew was due to Charlie pointing them out to me from the cruiser window in earlier days.**

Esme smiled at that and I just knew that she had to be thinking how nice it was for me and Charlie to do something like that together. I couldn't say I disagreed with her. It was kind of nice.

**There were many I didn't know, and others I couldn't be sure about because they were so covered in green parasites.**

**I followed the trail as long as my anger at myself pushed me forward. As that started to ebb, I slowed. A few drops of moisture trickled down from the canopy above me, but I couldn't be certain if it was beginning to rain or if it was simply pools left over from yesterday, held high in the leaves above me, slowly dripping their way back to the earth. A recently fallen tree — I knew it was recent because it wasn't entirely carpeted in moss — rested against the trunk of one of her sisters, creating a sheltered little bench just a few safe feet off the trail. **

**I stepped over the ferns and sat carefully, making sure my jacket was between the damp seat and my clothes wherever they touched, and leaned my hooded head back against the living tree.**

**This was the wrong place to have come. I should have known, but where else was there to go? The forest was deep green and far too much like the scene in last night's dream to allow for peace of mind.**

"True," Jasper agreed and I grinned at him. The way he said it – so seriously – was amusing.

**Now that there was no longer the sound of my soggy footsteps, the silence was piercing. The birds were quiet, too, the drops increasing in frequency, so it must be raining above. The ferns stood higher than my head, now that I was seated, and I knew someone could walk by on the path, three feet away, and not see me.**

**Here in the trees it was much easier to believe the absurdities that embarrassed me indoors. Nothing had changed in this forest for thousands of years, and all the myths and legends of a hundred different lands seemed much more likely in this green haze than they had in my clear-cut bedroom.**

**I forced myself to focus on the two most vital questions I had to answer, but I did so unwillingly.**

**First, I had to decide if it was possible that what Jacob had said about the Cullens could be true. **

**Immediately my mind responded with a resounding negative.**

Everyone looked at me curiously and I just shook my head. They would understand in a moment.

**It was silly and morbid to entertain such ridiculous notions. But what, then? I asked myself. There was no rational explanation for how I was alive at this moment. **

**I listed again in my head the things I'd observed myself: the impossible speed and strength, the eye color shifting from black to gold and back again, the inhuman beauty, the pale, frigid skin. And more — small things that registered slowly — how they never seemed to eat, the disturbing grace with which they moved. And the way he sometimes spoke, with unfamiliar cadences and phrases that better fit the style of a turn-of-the-century novel than that of a twenty-first-century classroom.**

They all frowned. "Do we really do that?" Rose asked and I nodded.

"Most people wouldn't notice it, but sometimes you do. You speak more softly, and your words sound like they could have come out of _Pride and Prejudice _or _Wuthering Heights_," I said thoughtfully and they all looked a little surprised.

"Well, we'll have to work on that," Carlisle said, slightly amused and everyone exchanged grins at the thought of Carlisle talking like some of the people today. Hilarious…

**He had skipped class the day we'd done blood typing. He hadn't said no to the beach trip till he heard where we were going. He seemed to know what everyone around him was thinking…except me. He had told me he was the villain, dangerous…Could the Cullens be vampires?**

**Well, they were something. **

**Something outside the possibility of rational justification was taking place in front of my incredulous eyes. Whether it be Jacob's cold ones or my own superhero theory, Edward Cullen was not… human. He was something more. **

**So then — maybe. That would have to be my answer for now. And then the most important question of all. What was I going to do if it was true?**

**If Edward was a vampire — I could hardly make myself think the words — then what should I do?**

**Involving someone else was definitely out. **

**I couldn't even believe myself; anyone I told would have me committed.**

**Only two options seemed practical. The first was to take his advice: to be smart, to avoid him as much as possible.**

**To cancel our plans, to go back to ignoring him as far as I was able. To pretend there was an impenetrably thick glass wall between us in the one class where we were forced together. To tell him to leave me alone — and mean it this time.**

**I was gripped in a sudden agony of despair as I considered that alternative, **and I saw a flash of gold behind my eyes though it was quickly thrust aside in the face of the pain.

My family looked at me questioningly and I sighed, shaking my head. "I was thinking of Rose, I just didn't realize it," I explained and they all smiled while Rose leaned forward to quickly kiss my cheek, squeezing me closer to her. I shifted to lean into her side.

**My mind rejected the pain, quickly skipping on to the next option.**

**I could do nothing different. After all, if he was something… sinister, he'd done nothing to hurt me so far.**

**In fact, I would be a dent in Tyler's fender if he hadn't acted so quickly. **

**So quickly, I argued with myself, that it might have been sheer reflexes. **

**But if it was a reflex to save lives, how bad could he be?**

**I retorted. My head spun around in answerless circles.**

**There was one thing I was sure of, if I was sure of anything. The dark Edward in my dream last night was a reflection only of my fear of the word Jacob had spoken, and not Edward himself.**

**Even so, when I'd screamed out in terror at the werewolf's lunge, it wasn't fear for the wolf that brought the cry of "no" to my lips. It was fear that he would be harmed — even as he called to me with sharp-edged fangs, I feared for him. **No, I corrected myself. I feared for the vampire – that extraordinarily beautiful, fierce blond vampire who lingered in the back of my mind. I shook my head to dispel it.

Everyone grinned at my short description of my mate, who looked pleased.

**And I knew in that I had my answer. I didn't know if there ever was a choice, really. I was already in too deep.**

**Now that I knew — if I knew — I could do nothing about my frightening secret. Because when I thought of him, of his voice, his hypnotic eyes, the magnetic force of his personality, I wanted nothing more than to be with him right now. Even if… but I couldn't think it.**

**Not here, alone in the darkening forest. Not while the rain made it dim as twilight under the canopy and pattered like footsteps across the matted earthen floor. I shivered and rose quickly from my place of concealment, worried that somehow the path would have disappeared with the rain.**

**But it was there, safe and clear, winding its way out of the dripping green maze. I followed it hastily, my hood pulled close around my face, becoming surprised, as I nearly ran through the trees, at how far I had come.**

**I started to wonder if I was heading out at all, or following the path farther into the confines of the forest. Before I could get too panicky, though, I began to glimpse some open spaces through the webbed branches. And then I could hear a car passing on the street, and I was free, Charlie's lawn stretched out in front of me, the house beckoning me, promising warmth and dry socks.**

**It was just noon when I got back inside. I went upstairs and got dressed for the day, jeans and a t-shirt, since I was staying indoors. It didn't take too much effort to concentrate on my task for the day, a paper on Macbeth that was due Wednesday.**

**I settled into outlining a rough draft contentedly, more serene than I'd felt since… well, since Thursday afternoon, if I was being honest.**

**That had always been my way, though. Making decisions was the painful part for me, the part I agonized over. But once the decision was made, I simply followed through — usually with relief that the choice was made. Sometimes the relief was tainted by despair, like my decision to come to Forks. But it was still better than wrestling with the alternatives.**

**This decision was ridiculously easy to live with. Dangerously easy. And so the day was quiet, productive — I finished my paper before eight. Charlie came home with a large catch, and I made a mental note to pick up a book of recipes for fish while I was in Seattle next week. The chills that flashed up my spine whenever I thought of that trip were no different than the ones I'd felt before I'd taken my walk with Jacob Black.**

**They should be different, I thought. I should be afraid — I knew I should be, but I couldn't feel the right kind of fear.**

**I slept dreamlessly that night, exhausted from beginning my day so early, and sleeping so poorly the night before. I woke, for the second time since arriving in Forks, to the bright yellow light of a sunny day.**

**I skipped to the window, stunned to see that there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and those there were just fleecy little white puffs that couldn't possibly be carrying any rain. I opened the window — surprised when it opened silently, without sticking, not having opened it in who knows how many years —** **and sucked in the relatively dry air. It was nearly warm and hardly windy at all. My blood was electric in my veins.**

**Charlie was finishing breakfast when I came downstairs, and he picked up on my mood immediately.**

**"Nice day out," he commented.**

**"Yes," I agreed with a grin.**

**He smiled back, his brown eyes crinkling around the edges. When Charlie smiled, it was easier to see why he and my mother had jumped too quickly into an early marriage. Most of the young romantic he'd been in those days had faded before I'd known him, as the curly brown hair — the same color, if not the same texture, as mine — had dwindled, slowly revealing more and more of the shiny skin of his forehead.**

**But when he smiled I could see a little of the man who had run away with Renée when she was just two years older than I was now.**

**I ate breakfast cheerily, watching the dust moats stirring in the sunlight that streamed in the back window.**

**Charlie called out a goodbye, and I heard the cruiser pull away from the house. I hesitated on my way out the door, hand on my rain jacket. It would be tempting fate to leave it home. With a sigh, I folded it over my arm and stepped out into the brightest light I'd seen in months.**

**By dint of much elbow grease, I was able to get both windows in the truck almost completely rolled down. I was one of the first ones to school; I hadn't even checked the clock in my hurry to get outside. I parked and headed toward the seldom-used picnic benches on the south side of the cafeteria. The benches were still a little damp, so I sat on my jacket, glad to have a use for it.**

**My homework was done — the product of a slow social life — but there were a few Trig problems I wasn't sure I had right. I took out my book industriously, but halfway through rechecking the first problem I was daydreaming, watching the sunlight play on the red-barked trees. I sketched inattentively along the margins of my homework. After a few minutes, I suddenly realized I'd drawn five pairs of dark eyes staring out of the page at me. I scrubbed them out with the eraser.**

Everyone laughed at that while I hid my face in Rose's shoulder. I could feel her trembling with laughter beneath me and sighed. Had they no mercy on a poor teenager? Apparently not.

**"Bella!" I heard someone call, and it sounded like Mike.**

**I looked around to realize that the school had become populated while I'd been sitting there, absentminded. Everyone was in t-shirts, some even in shorts though the temperature couldn't be over sixty.**

**Mike was coming toward me in khaki shorts and a striped Rugby shirt, waving.**

**"Hey, Mike," I called, waving back, unable to be halfhearted on a morning like this.**

**He came to sit by me, the tidy spikes of his hair shining golden in the light, his grin stretching across his face. He was so delighted to see me, I couldn't help but feel gratified.**

**"I never noticed before — your hair has red in it," he commented, catching between his fingers a strand that was fluttering in the light breeze.**

**"Only in the sun."**

**I became just a little uncomfortable as he tucked the lock behind my ear.**

Rose hissed quietly and I rubbed her back gently. "What's wrong, baby?" I asked lowly and I felt her frown against my shoulder.

"I don't like Newton touching you without your permission, making you uncomfortable," she growled quietly and I shook my head. I knew what she was thinking of. Damn bastards…

"Shh…" I shushed her. "It's okay. He was just a stupid boy and now that I'm a vampire there's no chance that he, or any other human, could hurt me like that – or you," I reassured her, quietly enough so that she was the only one who would hear.

After a second, she sighed and relaxed slightly. "I know. I know…" she said softly while I glanced over and motioned for Emmett to keep reading.

**"Great day, isn't it?"**

**"My kind of day," I agreed.**

**"What did you do yesterday?" His tone was just a bit too proprietary.**

**"I mostly worked on my essay." I didn't add that I was finished with it — no need to sound smug.**

**He hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Oh yeah — that's due Thursday, right?"**

**"Um, Wednesday, I think."**

**"Wednesday?" He frowned. "That's not good… What are you writing yours on?"**

**"Whether Shakespeare's treatment of the female characters is misogynistic."**

Alice nodded. "That's a good one," she commented.

**He stared at me like I'd just spoken in pig Latin.**

**"I guess I'll have to get to work on that tonight," he said, deflated. **

**"I was going to ask if you wanted to go out."**

**"Oh." I was taken off guard. Why couldn't I ever have a pleasant conversation with Mike anymore without it getting awkward?**

**"Well, we could go to dinner or something… and I could work on it later." He smiled at me hopefully.**

**"Mike…" I hated being put on the spot. "I don't think that would be the best idea."**

**His face fell. "Why?" he asked, his eyes guarded. My thoughts flickered to Edward, wondering if that's where his thoughts were as well. **

**"I think… and if you ever repeat what I'm saying right now I will cheerfully beat you to death," I threatened,** **"but I think that would hurt Jessica's feelings."**

**He was bewildered, obviously not thinking in that direction at all. **

**"Jessica?"**

**"Really, Mike, are you blind?"**

Emmett snorted after he read that. "Clearly, he must be. Even I couldn't miss that," he said scornfully and we all grinned at my bear of a brother.

**"Oh," he exhaled — clearly dazed. I took advantage of that to make my escape.**

**"It's time for class, and I can't be late again." I gathered my books up and stuffed them in my bag.**

**We walked in silence to building three, and his expression was distracted. I hoped whatever thoughts he was immersed in were leading him in the right direction.**

**When I saw Jessica in Trig, she was bubbling with enthusiasm. She, Angela, and Lauren were going to Port Angeles tonight to go dress shopping for the dance, and she wanted me to come, too, even though I didn't need one. I was indecisive. It would be nice to get out of town with some girlfriends, but Lauren would be there.**

I froze. "Oh, shit…" I muttered quietly and everyone looked at me questioningly except for Edward who seemed to understand and frowned.

"What is it?" Esme asked, concerned and I shook my head.

"I'll tell you when we get closer," I muttered and Rose looked at me questioningly but I just shook my head. The next chapter was gonna be the real nightmare… I shuddered just thinking about it.

**And who knew what I could be doing tonight… But that was definitely the wrong path to let my mind wander down. Of course I was happy about the sunlight. But that wasn't completely responsible for the euphoric mood I was in, not even close.**

**So I gave her a maybe, telling her I'd have to talk with Charlie first.**

**She talked of nothing but the dance on the way to Spanish, continuing as if without an interruption when class finally ended, five minutes late, and we were on our way to lunch. I was far too lost in my own frenzy of anticipation to notice much of what she said. I was painfully eager to see not just him but all the Cullens —** **to compare them with the new suspicions that plagued my mind.**

Alice pouted. "Is that all you wanted to see us for?" she asked teasingly, with a small amount of true hurt as well.

My eyes widened slightly and I shook my head, crossing quickly to sit next to her and wrapping her in my arms. "Of course not, Ali. I was just curious," I apologized and she smiled into my shoulder.

"Okay. Thanks, Bella," she chimed happily and I shook my head a little in amusement, swiftly pulling her onto my lap before she could protest.

"Anytime, big sister," I teased and she laughed, hugging me before we separated and I returned to Rose's side with her grinning at the two of us.

**As I crossed the threshold of the cafeteria, I felt the first true tingle of fear slither down my spine and settle in my stomach. Would they be able to know what I was thinking?**

**And then a different feeling jolted through me — would Edward be waiting to sit with me again?**

**As was my routine, I glanced first toward the Cullens' table. A shiver of panic trembled in my stomach as I realized it was empty. **

**With dwindling hope, my eyes scoured the rest of the cafeteria, hoping to find him alone, waiting for me. The place was nearly filled — Spanish had made us late — but there was no sign of Edward or any of his family. Desolation hit me with crippling strength.**

**I shambled along behind Jessica, not bothering to pretend to listen anymore.**

**We were late enough that everyone was already at our table. I avoided the empty chair next to Mike in favor of one by Angela. **

**I vaguely noticed that Mike held the chair out politely for Jessica, and that her face lit up in response.**

**Angela asked a few quiet questions about the Macbeth paper, which I answered as naturally as I could while spiraling downward in misery. **

**She, too, invited me to go with them tonight, and I agreed now, grasping at anything to distract myself.**

**I realized I'd been holding on to a last shred of hope when I entered Biology, saw his empty seat, and felt a new wave of disappointment.**

**The rest of the day passed slowly, dismally. In Gym, we had a lecture on the rules of badminton, the next torture they had lined up for me. **

**But at least it meant I got to sit and listen instead of stumbling around on the court. The best part was the coach didn't finish, so I got another day off tomorrow. Never mind that the day after they would arm me with a racket before unleashing me on the rest of the class.**

Everyone chuckled.

**I was glad to leave campus, so I would be free to pout and mope before I went out tonight with Jessica and company. But right after I walked in the door of Charlie's house, Jessica called to cancel our plans. **

**I tried to be happy that Mike had asked her out to dinner — I really was relieved that he finally seemed to be catching on — but my enthusiasm sounded false in my own ears.**

**She rescheduled our shopping trip for tomorrow night.** **Which left me with little in the way of distractions. I had fish marinating for dinner, with a salad and bread left over from the night before, so there was nothing to do there. I spent a focused half hour on homework, but then I was through with that, too. **

**I checked my e-mail, reading the backlog of letters from my mother, getting snippier as they progressed to the present. I sighed and typed a quick response.**

**Mom,**

**Sorry. I've been out. I went to the beach with some friends. And I had to write a paper.**

**My excuses were fairly pathetic, so I gave up on that.**

**It's sunny outside today - I know, I'm shocked, too - so I'm going to go outside and soak up as much vitamin D as I can. I love you,**

**Bella.**

**I decided to kill an hour with non-school-related reading. I had a small collection of books that came with me to Forks, the shabbiest volume being a compilation of the works of Jane Austen. I selected that one and headed to the backyard, grabbing a ragged old quilt from the linen cupboard at the top of the stairs on my way down.**

**Outside in Charlie's small, square yard, I folded the quilt in half and laid it out of the reach of the trees' shadows on the thick lawn that would always be slightly wet, no matter how long the sun shone. I lay on my stomach, crossing my ankles in the air, flipping through the different novels in the book, trying to decide which would occupy my mind the most thoroughly. My favorites were Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I'd read the first most recently, so I started into Sense and Sensibility, only to remember after I began three that the hero of the story happened to be named Edward.**

Edward looked mock-offended. "What's wrong with my name?" he demanded playfully.

I grinned and opened my mouth but he shook his head quickly. "Never mind, don't answer that," he grimaced and I smirked in victory.

**Angrily, I turned to Mansfield Park, ** **but the hero of that piece was named Edmund, and that was just too close. Weren't there any other names available in the late eighteenth century?**

**I snapped the book shut, annoyed, and rolled over onto my back. I pushed my sleeves up as high as they would go, and closed my eyes. I would think of nothing but the warmth on my skin, I told myself severely. The breeze was still light, but it blew tendrils of my hair around my face, and that tickled a bit. I pulled all my hair over my head, letting it fan out on the quilt above me, and focused again on the heat that touched my eyelids, my cheekbones, my nose, my lips, my forearms, my neck, soaked through my light shirt…**

"Mm… That sounds amazing," Rose murmured just for my ears and I smiled at her.

"It is but it's not as good as when you and I spend the day in the sun," I said truthfully and she grinned, satisfied with my answer.

**The next thing I was conscious of was the sound of Charlie's cruiser turning onto the bricks of the driveway. I sat up in surprise, realizing the light was gone, behind the trees, and I had fallen asleep. I looked around, muddled, with the sudden feeling that I wasn't alone.**

"It was you wasn't it?" I asked suddenly, before Emmett could continue and Rose grinned.

"It was. I was out hunting, nearby and – for reasons I couldn't understand at the time – I was drawn towards your house," she admitted and I grinned back at her.

**"Charlie?" I asked. But I could hear his door slamming in front of the house.**

**I jumped up, foolishly edgy, gathering the now-damp quilt and my book. I ran inside to get some oil heating on the stove, realizing that dinner would be late. Charlie was hanging up his gun belt and stepping out of his boots when I came in.**

**"Sorry, Dad, dinner's not ready yet — I fell asleep outside." I stifled a yawn.**

**"Don't worry about it," he said. "I wanted to catch the score on the game, anyway."**

**I watched TV with Charlie after dinner, for something to do. There wasn't anything on I wanted to watch, but he knew I didn't like baseball, so he turned it to some mindless sitcom that neither of us enjoyed.**

**He seemed happy, though, to be doing something together. And it felt good, despite my depression, to make him happy.**

**"Dad," I said during a commercial, "Jessica and Angela are going to look at dresses for the dance tomorrow night in Port Angeles, and they wanted me to help them choose… do you mind if I go with them?"**

**"Jessica Stanley?" he asked.**

**"And Angela Weber." I sighed as I gave him the details.**

**He was confused. "But you're not going to the dance, right?"**

**"No, Dad, but I'm helping them find dresses — you know, giving them constructive criticism." I wouldn't have to explain this to a woman.**

Alice and Rose snorted. "Nope," they agreed and Esme and I grinned at them while all of the boys grimaced.

**"Well, okay." He seemed to realize that he was out of his depth with the girlie stuff. "It's a school night, though."**

**"We'll leave right after school, so we can get back early. You'll be okay for dinner, right?"**

**"Bells, I fed myself for seventeen years before you got here," he reminded me.**

**"I don't know how you survived," I muttered, then added more clearly, "I'll leave some things for cold-cut sandwiches in the fridge, okay? Right on top."**

**It was sunny again in the morning.**

**I awakened with renewed hope that I grimly tried to suppress. I dressed for the warmer weather in a deep blue V-neck blouse — something I'd worn in the dead of winter in Phoenix.**

**I had planned my arrival at school so that I barely had time to make it to class. With a sinking heart, I circled the full lot looking for a space, while also searching for the silver Volvo that was clearly not there.**

**I parked in the last row and hurried to English, arriving breathless, but subdued, before the final bell.**

**It was the same as yesterday — I just couldn't keep little sprouts of hope from budding in my mind, only to have them squashed painfully as I searched the lunchroom in vain and sat at my empty Biology table.**

**The Port Angeles scheme was back on again for tonight and made all the more attractive by the fact that Lauren had other obligations. **

**I was anxious to get out of town so I could stop glancing over my shoulder, hoping to see him appearing out of the blue the way he always did. I vowed to myself that I would be in a good mood tonight and not ruin Angela's or Jessica's enjoyment in the dress hunting. Maybe I could do a little clothes shopping as well. **

Alice grinned but then pouted. "Could it be that deep down you truly don't have a horrible aversion to shopping and have only been feigning it to spurn me?" she gasped dramatically and I smirked.

"Yes, Alice, that's exactly it," I deadpanned and my family burst out laughing.

**I refused to think that I might be shopping alone in Seattle this weekend, no longer interested in the earlier arrangement. Surely he wouldn't cancel without at least telling me.**

**After school, Jessica followed me home in her old white Mercury so that I could ditch my books and truck. I brushed through my hair quickly when I was inside, feeling a slight lift of excitement as I contemplated getting out of Forks. I left a note for Charlie on the table, explaining again where to find dinner, switched my scruffy wallet from my school bag to a purse I rarely used, and ran out to join Jessica. We went to Angela's house next, and she was waiting for us. My excitement increased exponentially as we actually drove out of the town limits.**

I snorted. What a fool I was, I thought in disgust, shaking my head.

"That's the end of the chapter." Emmett was about to toss the book to Rose but I quickly intercepted it.

"No," I said firmly and everyone looked at me curiously – other than Edward of course who now wore an expression akin to that of a warrior going into battle. "I… I need to read this next one or the book may not survive," I said grimly. It was the truth.

Rose was looking extremely worried now. "What is it, Bella? What has you so on edge?" she asked suspiciously and I took a deep breath.

"Just… Just trust me?" I asked, looking everyone in the eyes until they nodded their acceptance. "Okay…" I sighed. "Chapter Eight…"

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: So sorry about the long wait, everyone, and thanks for bearing with me. I'll try to do better! Now, review and tell me what you think! :D**

**- Ashe**


	9. Port Angeles

**WARNING: Please note that for my story, the attack scene will be different and if reading about assault and violence will disturb you – then, please, I implore you to skip over this chapter and assume that what happened in Port Angeles was worse than before without subjecting yourself to the details.**

**Note: **_**Bold italic **_**text is original material that I have added to the original story.**

**Chapter Nine: Port Angeles**

Rosalie

Bella was making me nervous. Why wouldn't the book survive if someone else read? I was starting to get a very, very bad feeling about this…

Bella took a deep breath and began to read.

**Port Angeles **

**Jess drove faster than the Chief, so we made it to Port Angeles by four. It had been a while since I'd had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating. We listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about the boys we hung out with. Jessica's dinner with Mike had gone very well, and she was hoping that by Saturday night they would have progressed to the first-kiss stage. **

**I smiled to myself, pleased. Angela was passively happy to be going to the dance, but not really interested in Eric. Jess tried to get her to confess who her type was, but I interrupted with a question about dresses after a bit, to spare her. Angela threw a grateful glance my way.**

**Angela threw a grateful glance my way.**

**Port Angeles was a beautiful little tourist trap, much more polished and quaint than Forks. But Jessica** **and Angela knew it well, so they didn't plan to waste time on the picturesque boardwalk by the bay. Jess drove straight to the one big department store in town, which **

**was a few streets in from the bay area's visitor-friendly face.**

**The dance was billed as semiformal, and we weren't exactly sure what that meant. **

I pouted and Alice frowned. We exchanged a look that clearly said, "We really must educate her about such things." Bella noticed and gave Alice a dirty look before pouting at me. I just grinned and shook my head and she grimaced before sighing and going on. She knew she wouldn't win.

**Both Jessica and Angela seemed surprised and almost disbelieving when I told them I'd never been to a dance in Phoenix.**

**"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store.**

**"Really," I tried to convince her, not wanting to confess my dancing problems. "I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much."**

**"Why not?" Jessica demanded.**

**"No one asked me," I answered honestly.**

**She looked skeptical. "People ask you out here," she reminded me, **

**"and you tell them no." We were in** **the juniors' section now, scanning the racks for dress-up clothes.**

**"Well, except for Tyler," Angela amended quietly.**

Bella hissed quietly and began muttering about 'idiotic, assuming teenage boys', while we all just grinned at her but didn't say anything – this time.

**"Excuse me?" I gasped. "What did you say?"**

**"Tyler told everyone he's taking you to prom," Jessica informed me with suspicious eyes.**

**"He said what?" I sounded like I was choking.**

**"I told you it wasn't true," Angela murmured to Jessica.**

**I was silent, still lost in shock that was quickly turning to irritation. But we had found the dress racks, and now we had work to do.**

**"That's why Lauren doesn't like you," Jessica giggled while we pawed through the clothes.**

Alice and I snorted. "Yeah, that's the only reason," I said sarcastically and Esme frowned.

"I don't like that girl," my mother figure murmured in irritation and I grinned at her. She was hardly ever in a bad mood, but she was extremely protective of all of us 'kids' – particularly Bella, since she was her youngest child.

**I ground my teeth. "Do you think that if I ran him over with my truck he would stop feeling guilty about the accident? That he might give up on making amends and call it even?"**

Emmett chuckled. "Aw, come on, why didn't you?" he whined playfully and everyone laughed at his antics.

**"Maybe," Jess snickered. '"If that's why he's doing this."**

**The dress selection wasn't large, but both of them found a few things to try on. I sat on a low chair just inside the dressing room, by the three-way mirror, trying to control my fuming.**

**Jess was torn between two — one a long, strapless, basic black number, the other a knee-length electric blue with spaghetti straps. I encouraged her to go with the blue; why not play up the eyes?**

I nodded happily, kissing my mate's cheek quickly. "Very good," I complimented her and she smiled happily. I shook my head indulgently and looked to Alice. "Perhaps we can compress her training a little," I suggested teasingly and my sister smiled but nodded and Bella grinned and thanked the both of us repeatedly.

**Angela chose a pale pink dress that draped around her tall frame nicely and brought out honey tints in her light brown hair.**

My smile widened a little. I knew that she could do it, I thought smugly.

**I complimented them both generously and helped by returning the rejects to their racks. The whole process was much shorter and easier than similar trips I'd taken with Renée at home. I guess there was something to be said for limited choices.**

**We headed over to shoes and accessories. While they tried things on I merely watched and critiqued, not in the mood to shop for myself, though I did need new shoes. The girls'-night high was wearing off in the wake of my annoyance at Tyler, leaving room for the gloom to move back in.**

**"Angela?" I began, hesitant, while she was trying on a pair of pink strappy heels — she was overjoyed to have a date tall enough that she could wear high heels at all.**

**Jessica had drifted to the jewelry counter and we were alone.**

**"Yes?" She held her leg out, twisting her ankle to get a better view of the shoe.**

**I chickened out. "I like those."**

Jasper looked at her curiously. "What did you want to ask?"

Bella smiled at our brother. "You'll see," she promised.

**"I think I'll get them — though they'll never match anything but the one dress," she mused.**

**"Oh, go ahead — they're on sale," I encouraged. She smiled, putting the lid back on a box that contained more practical-looking off-white shoes.**

**I tried again. "Um, Angela…" She looked up curiously.** **"Is it normal for the… Cullens" — I kept my eyes on the shoes — "to be out of school a lot?" I failed** **miserably in my attempt to sound nonchalant.**

Jasper's eyes lit with understanding as we all grinned at each other. Even though Bella was now an official part of our family, it felt good to know that she asked about us.

**"Yes, when the weather is good they go backpacking all the time — even the doctor. They're all real** **outdoorsy," she told me quietly, examining her shoes, too. **

**She didn't ask one question, let alone the** **hundreds that Jessica would have unleashed. I was beginning to really like Angela.**

**"Oh." I let the subject drop as Jessica returned to show us the rhinestone jewelry she'd found to match** **her silver shoes.**

**We planned to go to dinner at a little Italian restaurant on the boardwalk, but the dress shopping hadn't** **taken as long as we'd expected. Jess and Angela were going to take their clothes back to the car and** **then walk down to the bay. I told them I would meet them at the restaurant in an hour — I wanted to** **look for a bookstore. **

Bella's voice was becoming more strained now, and the rest of my family and I exchanged wary glances – except for one of us. Edward's jaw tightened and his eyes hardened.

My uneasy feeling was becoming more and more amplified. Not good, not good, my mind murmured but I stayed silent. Whatever happened, I had to know.

**They were both willing to come with me, but I encouraged them to go have fun — they didn't know how preoccupied I could get when surrounded by books; it was something I preferred to do alone. **

**They walked off to the car chattering happily, and I headed in the direction Jess pointed out.**

**I had no trouble finding the bookstore, but it wasn't what I was looking for. The windows were full of** **crystals, dream-catchers, and books about spiritual healing. I didn't even go inside. Through the glass I** **could see a fifty-year-old woman with long, gray hair worn straight down her back, clad in a dress right out of the sixties, smiling welcomingly from behind the counter. I decided that was one conversation I could skip. There had to be a normal bookstore in town.**

**I meandered through the streets, which were filling up with end-of-the-workday traffic, and hoped I was headed toward downtown. I wasn't paying as much attention as I should to where I was going; I was wrestling with despair. I was trying so hard not to think about him, and what Angela had said… and more than anything trying to beat down my hopes for Saturday, fearing a disappointment more painful than the rest, when I looked up to see someone's silver Volvo parked along the street and it all came crashing down on me. **

**Stupid, unreliable vampire, I thought to myself.**

We all smiled weakly at that. Everyone could feel the growing tension although Bella's voice stayed steady, despite the slight strain I could hear as she spoke.

**I stomped along in a southerly direction, toward some glass-fronted shops that looked promising. But** **when I got to them, they were just a repair shop and a vacant space. I still had too much time to go**

**looking for Jess and Angela yet, and I definitely needed to get my mood in hand before I met back up** **with them. I ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times and took some deep breaths before I** **continued around the corner.**

**I started to realize, as I crossed another road, that I was going the wrong direction. The little foot traffic I had seen was going north, and it looked like the buildings here were mostly warehouses. I decided to turn east at the next corner, and then loop around after a few blocks and try my luck on a different street on my way back to the boardwalk.**

**A group of four men turned around the corner I was heading for, dressed too casually to be heading** **home from the office, but they were too grimy to be tourists. **

I froze. No. No, no, no. I shook my head quickly. Not that. It couldn't be. Not to her. Not to my Bella.

Bella stopped reading for a moment and turned to me, laying the book aside for the moment. "Shh… It's okay. I'm okay. I'm okay, Rose," she soothed me and I gradually relaxed enough to speak.

"What – " I couldn't think of what to say. It just couldn't be.

Bella took my right hand in her left and squeezed, looking at our family. "Before I go on, I want you all to know that I was safe, in the end. Edward was able to save me," she told us, her jaw clenched when she finished speaking, and she threw a grateful glance to our brother who managed a small half-smile in return.

"Now, I'm going to go on, alright?" she asked me softly and I could only nod mutely.

**As they approached me, I realized they** **weren't too many years older than I was. They were joking loudly among themselves, laughing raucously and punching each other's arms. I scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as I could to give them room, walking swiftly, looking past them to the corner.**

**"Hey, there!" one of them called as they passed, and he had to be talking to me since no one else was** **around. **

"No, no!" Esme whimpered, as all of us clung tightly to our mates.

**I glanced up automatically. Two of them had paused, the other two were slowing. The closest, a heavyset, dark-haired man in his early twenties, seemed to be the one who had spoken. He was wearing a flannel shirt open over a dirty t-shirt, cut-off jeans, and sandals. He took half a step toward me.**

I hissed and the sound echoed through the room as the others mimicked my action.

**"Hello," I mumbled, a knee-jerk reaction. Then I quickly looked away and walked faster toward the** **corner. I could hear them laughing at full volume behind me.**

**"Hey, wait!" one of them called after me again, but I kept my head down and rounded the corner with a sigh of relief. I could still hear them chortling behind me.**

My breathing sped up lightly and I held tightly to Bella. _She's here. She's right here, safe with us,_ my mind whispered but it had minimum effect in the face of what I was hearing.

**I found myself on a sidewalk leading past the backs of several somber-colored warehouses, each with** **large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south side of the street had no** **sidewalk, only a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage-yard. I'd wandered far past the part of Port Angeles that I, as a guest, was intended to see. It was getting dark, I realized, the clouds finally returning, piling up on the western horizon, creating an early sunset.**

**The eastern sky was still clear, but graying, shot through with streaks of pink and orange. I'd left my jacket in the car, and a sudden shiver made me cross my arms tightly across my chest. A single van passed me, and then the road was empty.**

Bella squeezed my hand as my grip on her tightened a bit more and a small whimper broke free of my throat. But she didn't stop and I was grateful. I think we all could sense that it would be best just to hurry through and get it over with as fast as possible.

**The sky suddenly darkened further, and, as I looked over my shoulder to glare at the offending cloud, I** **realized with a shock that two men were walking quietly twenty feet behind me.**

**They were from the same group I'd passed at the corner, though neither was the dark one who'd spoken to me. I turned my head forward at once, quickening my pace. A chill that had nothing to do with the weather made me shiver again. My purse was on a shoulder strap and I had it slung across my body, the way you were supposed to wear it so it wouldn't get snatched. I knew exactly where my pepper spray was — still in my duffle bag under the bed, never unpacked. I didn't have much money with me, just a twenty and some ones, and I thought about "accidentally" dropping my bag and walking away.**

"That's not what they're after," Alice moaned in a distressed voice and my eyes shut, though only for a millisecond because I couldn't bear not being able to see her. I had to, in order to be absolutely certain that she was safe and in my arms.

**But a small, frightened voice in the back of my mind warned me that they might be something worse than thieves.**

**I listened intently to their quiet footsteps, which were much too quiet when compared to the boisterous** **noise they'd been making earlier, and it didn't sound like they were speeding up, or getting any closer to me. Breathe, I had to remind myself. You don't know they're following you. I continued to walk as** **quickly as I could without actually running, focusing on the right-hand turn that was only a few yards** **away from me now. I could hear them, staying as far back as they'd been before. A blue car turned onto the street from the south and drove quickly past me. I thought of jumping out in front of it, but I hesitated, inhibited, unsure that I was really being pursued, and then it was too late.**

**I reached the corner, but a swift glance revealed that it was only a blind drive to the back of another** **building. I was half-turned in anticipation; I had to hurriedly correct and dash across the narrow drive,** **back to the sidewalk. The street ended at the next corner, where there was a stop sign. I concentrated on the faint footsteps behind me, deciding whether or not to run. They sounded farther back, though, and I knew they could outrun me in any case. **

Emmett hissed quietly, looking thoroughly upset. He had always found Bella's clumsiness as a human to be entertaining, but now, when it was putting her in such terrible danger, he found it disturbing to know that something he had taken such pleasure in was putting her in even more danger.

I swallowed thickly and clenched my jaw. Everyone looked extremely upset now, and Esme was dry-sobbing quietly into Carlisle's chest.

**I was sure to trip and go sprawling if I tried to go any faster.**

**The footfalls were definitely farther back. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, and they were maybe forty feet back now, I saw with relief. But they were both staring at me.**

**It seemed to take forever for me to get to the corner. I kept my pace steady, the men behind me falling ever so slightly farther behind with every step. Maybe they realized they had scared me and were sorry. I saw two cars going north pass the intersection I was heading for, and I exhaled in relief.**

**There would be more people around once I got off this deserted street. I skipped around the corner with a grateful sigh.**

**And skidded to a stop.**

"No," Carlisle whispered, horrified and worried for the safety of his youngest.

**The street was lined on both sides by blank, doorless, windowless walls. I could see in the distance, two intersections down, streetlamps, cars, and more pedestrians, but they were all too far away.**

**Because lounging against the western building, midway down the street, were the other two men from the group, both watching with excited smiles as I froze dead on the sidewalk. I realized then that I wasn't being followed.**

**I was being herded.**

A sob broke free of my throat and by now my brothers were nearly vibrating with worry and anger. Alice was whimpering quietly and muttering quietly to herself, "How did I miss it? Why didn't I _see this?_" Esme's sobs had escalated somewhat and Carlisle shuddered once.

But we all knew that we had to keep listening, and we kept reminding ourselves that she was here. She was right here with us, and she was okay now.

**I paused for only a second, but it felt like a very long time. I turned then and darted to the other side of** **the road. I had a sinking feeling that it was a wasted attempt. The footsteps behind me were louder now.**

**"There you are!" The booming voice of the stocky, dark-haired man shattered the intense quiet and made me jump. In the gathering darkness, it seemed like he was looking past me.**

**"Yeah," a voice called loudly from behind me, making me jump again as I tried to hurry down the street.**

**"We just took a little detour."**

Alice couldn't take it anymore and darted over to us to sit on Bella's other side, wrapping her arm around my mate's waist and whimpering from fear for her sister.

**My steps had to slow now. I was closing the distance between myself and the lounging pair too quickly. I had a good loud scream, and I sucked in air, preparing to use it, but my throat was so dry I wasn't sure how much volume I could manage. With a quick movement I slipped my purse over my head, gripping the strap with one hand, ready to surrender it or use it as weapon as need demanded.**

**The thickset man shrugged away from the wall as I warily came to a stop, and walked slowly into the** **street.**

**"Stay away from me," I warned in a voice that was supposed to sound strong and fearless. But I was** **right about the dry throat — no volume.**

**"Don't be like that, sugar," he called, and the raucous laughter started again behind me.**

I growled furiously. I was still nearly out of my mind with fear and worry, but now my anger was flaring up and already I hated these men with a passion. They would be lucky if I didn't rip them apart after we finished with this.

**I braced myself, feet apart, trying to remember through my panic what little self-defense I knew. Heel of the hand thrust upward, hopefully breaking the nose or shoving it into the brain. Finger through the eye socket — try to hook around and pop the eye out. **

**And the standard knee to the groin, of course.**

**That same pessimistic voice in my mind spoke up then, reminding me that I probably wouldn't have a chance gainst one of them, and there were four. Shut up! I commanded the voice before terror could** **incapacitate me. I wasn't going out without taking someone with me. I tried to swallow so I could build** **up a decent scream.**

Bella's voice was strained, but she kept going. Esme rushed over and sat at Bella's feet, still sobbing as she leant into her youngest daughter's side.

_**But I never got the chance. **_

_**They lunged for me then, and one of them grabbed me from behind, covering my mouth to prevent me from making any noise.**_

There was a steady symphony of growls throughout the room now and I trembled with fear, anger, and despair. But no one spoke. _Just get through it. We just have to get through it…_

_**The leader came up to me as I struggled and tried to scream – to no avail. He snickered as the other two laughed drunkenly. I felt terror rising up in me but I kept fighting.**_

_**The one closest placed his hands on my hips and leaned close to me. "Now, don't be like that. We're gonna have a lot of fun, aren't we boys?" he drawled, moving his hands up my sides and chest until he reached my breasts. He started groping me roughly and I felt more than saw the other two come over and start trying to undress me.**_

My breathing was ragged and Bella had moved to sit in my lap a moment ago, Esme moving to my left side on the small couch and holding us both in her arms while Alice held on to both mine and Bella's right sides. _Please, please let it be over soon,_ I pleaded silently. At this point, I would have gotten down on my knees and begged for it to over with.

_**As panic and horror washed over me, I took as deep of a breath as possible. And then, with a strength I didn't know I possessed, I bit down hard on the man who was holding me from behind's hand. He howled with pain and released me.**_

_**In that instant, I took my chance and thrashed about violently. My assailants were too surprised to maintain their grips on me and stumbled drunkenly back several steps.**_

_**And then – it was over.**_

I sobbed with relief and kissed Bella's back, shoulders, and neck repeatedly. Everyone relaxed greatly and you could feel the relief in the air even without Jasper's gift.

**Headlights suddenly flew around the corner, the car almost hitting the stocky one, forcing him to jump** **back toward the sidewalk. I dove into the road — this car was going to stop, or have to hit me. But the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door open just a few feet from me.**

**"Get in," a furious voice commanded.**

I felt my eyelids slide shut. "Thank you, Edward," I whispered reverently. "Thank you." I opened my eyes and he smiled at me, shaking his head and looking from Bella to me, his eyes showing the brotherly love and concern he had for us both. I had never loved him more than I did in this moment.

**It was amazing how instantaneously the choking fear vanished, amazing how suddenly the feeling of** **security washed over me** — **even before I was off the street — as soon as I heard his voice. I jumped into the seat, slamming the door shut behind me.**

_**Any yet, for the briefest second, in the back of my mind I found myself wishing that my savior was blond instead of bronze-haired. I pushed the small, irrational voice away.**_

_**I was safe, now. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was safe.**_

Bella shut the book. "That was the end of that chapter," she murmured, a small shiver working its way down her spine as she buried her face in my shoulder, our mother and sister still holding the both of us although we were all exponentially calmer than before.

But I could feel it rising up inside me once more. I couldn't take it. I had to get out of here, now.

Bella looked up suddenly, staring straight into my eyes for a moment, and I knew that she could see it. She rose swiftly, giving Esme and Alice quick hugs before she took my hand.

"We'll be back in a while," she said quickly before we ran. The moment we were free of the house, I took the lead. My emotions were raging right now and I just had to get out of there.

After hearing what happened, I was torn between relief and fury. Relief that it wasn't worse, that they didn't get the chance to finish up. But, at the same time, fury that it happened at all.

So, I ran with my mate and I didn't stop until I felt marginally more in control. Finally, I slowed and we came to a stop atop one of the nearby mountains.

I took a deep breath. I had calmed myself somewhat; now, I wanted to know how Bella was really feeling. She had been able to read what happened, but I knew from experience that the emotions that accompanied tragedies such as these lay deep inside and didn't always show on the surface, particularly in the presence of others – even family.

I looked to Bella and knew that I had been right. Her breathing was unsteady and instantly I had her in my arms. I held my mate, rocking the two of us back and forth as we both dry-sobbed in each other's arms – damaged, hurt, but not broken. Never broken, as long as we had each other.


	10. Port Angeles, Part II

**Chapter Ten: Port Angeles, Part II**

Rosalie

After we had both stopped sobbing, we just held each other. Bella lightly stroked the tips of my blond hair as I slowly rubbed up and down on her lower back.

"Are you alright?" my beloved's voice was soft, gentle with love and tenderness.

I smiled a little. "I think… I am," I said, a little bit of awe clear in my voice. For the first time after reliving the memories, I felt some amount of true peace inside. I wasn't fully healed by any means, but for the first time I felt like I might not always have to go through the horrific experience of reliving those revolting memories over and over again.

"What about you?" I asked quietly and I felt her sigh. I interrupted before she could speak. "And don't tell me that you're fine. Even if it wasn't exactly the same thing, I know what it felt like. So, please… Just tell me how you really feel?" I requested softly and she chuckled quietly; I felt her nod against my shoulder.

"I don't know, honestly. You know that none of my human memories faded with the change, so… I just used to… feel so afraid, you know? I faced vampires and hung out with werewolves, but… I was somehow terrified that somehow they were going to find me, they were going to come after me," she admitted, shivering once in my embrace, and I shushed her.

"I know. I know," I repeated, holding tightly to her. "I won't ever let anyone hurt you," I reminded her and she pulled back slightly so that she could look me in the eyes.

Bella brought one hand up to cup my cheek. "I know. Just as I will never allow anyone to hurt you," she murmured before capturing my lips in a sweet kiss.

When we pulled apart I smiled. "We should get back," I said and she nodded, standing both of us up.

Bella grinned at me suddenly. "Race you back!" she called before darting off into the forest, heading back towards the house.

I laughed before dashing off after her. "Hey, come back here, you!" I called out playfully as I pushed myself as fast as I could go. It still wasn't fast enough but I could tell that she wasn't running full speed as she slowed enough to keep me a steady twenty feet behind her, just in case anything happened.

We rushed towards our home and arrived fairly quickly, laughing as we did so. Bella darted into the house ahead of me and was waiting on the couch when I entered. I mock-glared at her and pretended to grumble about losing, while stalking over and taking my seat next to my mate. The entire time, our family laughed happily at us, seeing out much improved moods.

Bella grabbed the book. "Now, moving on," she said, grabbing my hand in hers as she began to read.

**Port Angeles, Part II**

**It was dark in the car, no light had come on with the opening of the door, and I could barely see his face in the glow from the dashboard. **

**The tires squealed as he spun around to face north, accelerating too quickly, swerving toward the stunned men on the street. I caught a glimpse of them diving for the** **sidewalk as we straightened out and sped toward the harbor.**

**"Put on your seat belt," he commanded, and I realized I was clutching the seat with both hands. I quickly obeyed; the snap as the belt connected was loud in the darkness. He took a sharp left, racing forward, blowing through several stop signs without a pause.**

**But I felt utterly safe and, for the moment, totally unconcerned about where we were going. I stared at his face in profound relief, relief that went beyond my sudden deliverance. I studied his flawless features in the limited light, waiting for my breath to return to normal, until it occurred to me that his expression was murderously angry.**

**"Are you okay?" I asked, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded.**

Esme looked appalled. "Edward," she scolded and I couldn't help but agree with her. _That _just happened and she had to _him _if _he _was okay?!

**"No," he said curtly, and his tone was livid.**

**I sat in silence, watching his face while his blazing eyes stared straight ahead, until the car came to a** **sudden stop. I glanced around, but it was too dark to see anything beside the vague outline of dark trees crowding the roadside. We weren't in town anymore.**

**"Bella?" he asked, his voice tight, controlled.**

**"Yes?" My voice was still rough. I tried to clear my throat quietly.**

**"Are you all right?" **

Alice nodded approvingly. "Better late than never."

**He still didn't look at me, but the fury was plain on his face.**

**"Yes," I croaked softly.**

**"Distract me, please," he ordered.**

**"I'm sorry, what?"**

**He exhaled sharply.**

**"Just prattle about something unimportant until I calm down," he clarified, closing his eyes and pinching** **the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.**

**"Um." I wracked my brain for something trivial. "I'm going to run over Tyler Crowley tomorrow before school?"**

Emmett grinned widely at that. I had to admit – it was a pleasing mental picture.

**He was still squeezing his eyes closed, but the corner of his mouth twitched.**

**"Why?"**

**"He's telling everyone that he's taking me to prom — either he's insane or he's still trying to make up for almost killing me last… well, you remember it, and he thinks prom is somehow the correct way to do this. So I figure if I endanger his life, then we're even, and he can't keep trying to make amends. I don't need enemies and maybe Lauren would back off if he left me alone. I might have to total his Sentra, though. If he doesn't have a ride he can't take anyone to prom…" I babbled on.**

I grinned, leaning over as Bella read and speaking just for her ears. "You know, you really are good at distractions – of _all_ kinds," I purred, smirking when I pulled back and saw her eyes were a shade darker than before.

**"I heard about that." He sounded a bit more composed.**

**"You did?" I asked in disbelief, my previous irritation flaring. "If he's paralyzed from the neck down, he can't go to the prom, either," I muttered, refining my plan.**

Everyone laughed at that, even Carlisle and Esme but only because they knew that we wouldn't actually do anything like that – not to mention the fact that, oh yeah, this was from years ago.

**Edward sighed, and finally opened his eyes.**

**"Better?"**

**"Not really."**

**I waited, but he didn't speak again. He leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His face was rigid.**

**"What's wrong?" My voice came out in a whisper.**

**"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Bella." **

Jasper snorted. "Really?" he asked sarcastically and I grinned at my quasi twin. After all, he would know.

**He was whispering, too, and as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into slits. "But it wouldn't be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those…" He didn't finish his sentence, looking away, struggling for a moment to control his anger again.**

**"At least," he continued, "that's what I'm trying to convince myself."**

**"Oh." The word seemed inadequate, but I couldn't think of a better response.**

**We sat in silence again. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was past six-thirty.**

**"Jessica and Angela will be worried," I murmured. "I was supposed to meet them."**

**He started the engine without another word, turning around smoothly and speeding back toward town.**

**We were under the streetlights in no time at all, still going too fast, weaving with ease through the cars** **slowly cruising the boardwalk. He parallel-parked against the curb in a space I would have thought much too small for the Volvo, but he slid in effortlessly in one try. I looked out the window to see the lights of La Bella Italia, and Jess and Angela just leaving, pacing anxiously away from us.**

Bella paused in reading to grumble at us as we all clearly restrained our laughter. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You have no idea how irritating that is sometimes…" she muttered and we all burst out laughing. It was just too ironic…

**"How did you know where… ?" I began, but then I just shook my head. I heard the door open and** **turned to see him getting out.**

**"What are you doing?" I asked.**

**"I'm taking you to dinner." He smiled slightly, but his eyes were hard. He stepped out of the car and** **slammed the door. I fumbled with my seat belt, and then hurried to get out of the car as well. He was** **waiting for me on the sidewalk.**

**He spoke before I could. "Go stop Jessica and Angela before I have to track them down, too. I don't** **think I could restrain myself if I ran into your other friends again."**

A low growl escaped my lips. If it were me I wouldn't have even bothered _trying _to restrain myself…

**I shivered at the threat in his voice.**

**"Jess! Angela!" I yelled after them, waving when they turned. They rushed back to me, the pronounced relief on both their faces simultaneously changing to surprise as they saw who I was standing next to.**

**They hesitated a few feet from us.**

**"Where have you been?" Jessica's voice was suspicious.**

**"I got lost," I admitted sheepishly. "And then I ran into Edward." I gestured toward him.**

**"Would it be all right if I joined you?" he asked in his silken, irresistible voice. I could see from their** **staggered expressions that he had never unleashed his talents on them before.**

I shot a small glare towards Edward here and Bella grinned at me, pulling me close enough that she was practically sitting in my lap. Hm… I pulled her onto my lap and buried my face in her shoulder as she read, happily inhaling her beautiful scent.

**"Er… sure," Jessica breathed.**

**"Um, actually, Bella, we already ate while we were waiting — **

**sorry," Angela confessed.**

**"That's fine — I'm not hungry." I shrugged.**

**"I think you should eat something." Edward's voice was low, but full of authority. He looked up at Jessica and spoke slightly louder. **

**"Do you mind if I drive Bella home tonight? That way you won't have to wait while she eats."**

**"Uh, no problem, I guess…" She bit her lip, trying to figure out from my expression whether that was** **what I wanted. I winked at her. I wanted nothing more than to be alone with my perpetual savior.** **There were so many questions that I couldn't bombard him with till we were by ourselves.**

**"Okay." Angela was quicker than Jessica. "See you tomorrow, Bella… Edward." She grabbed Jessica's hand and pulled her toward the car, which I could see a little ways away, parked across First Street.**

**As they got in, Jess turned and waved, her face eager with curiosity. **

**I waved back, waiting for them to drive away before I turned to face him.**

**"Honestly, I'm not hungry," I insisted, looking up to scrutinize his face. His expression was unreadable.**

**"Humor me."**

Esme groaned quietly. "Edward, have I taught you no manners whatsoever?" she asked exasperatedly and he smiled sheepishly, apologizing and making Mom shake her head at him.

**He walked to the door of the restaurant and held it open with an obstinate expression. Obviously, there would be no further discussion. I walked past him into the restaurant with a resigned sigh.**

**The restaurant wasn't crowded — it was the off-season in Port Angeles. The host was female, and I** **understood the look in her eyes as she assessed Edward. She welcomed him a little more warmly than** **necessary. I was surprised by how much that bothered me. She was several inches taller than I was, and unnaturally blond.**

"**A table for two?" His voice was alluring, whether he was aiming for that or not. I saw her eyes flicker to me and then away, satisfied by my obvious ordinariness, and by the cautious, no-contact space Edward kept between us. She led us to a table big enough for four in the center of the most crowded area of the dining floor.**

**I was about to sit, but Edward shook his head at me.**

**"Perhaps something more private?" he insisted quietly to the host. I wasn't sure, but it looked like he** **smoothly handed her a tip. **

Edward just smirked and I rolled my eyes. Smug bastard brother of a vampire…

**I'd never seen anyone refuse a table except in old movies.**

**"Sure." She sounded as surprised as I was. She turned and led us around a partition to a small ring of booths — all of them empty. **

**"How's this?"**

**"Perfect." He flashed his gleaming smile, dazing her momentarily.**

**"Um" — she shook her head, blinking — "your server will be right out." She walked away unsteadily.**

**"You really shouldn't do that to people," I criticized. "It's hardly fair."**

**"Do what?"**

**"Dazzle them like that — she's probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now."**

Emmett chuckled and I could almost see the jokes building up in his head – all at his mate's expense. I smiled widely at the thought.

**He seemed confused.**

**"Oh, come on," I said dubiously. "You have to know the effect you have on people."**

**He tilted his head to one side, and his eyes were curious. "I dazzle people?"**

**"You haven't noticed? Do you think everybody gets their way so easily?"**

**He ignored my questions. "Do I dazzle you?"**

**"Frequently," I admitted**_**, though never as much when we're alone without your family nearby… I shook off the thought. I was being ridiculous.**_

**And then our server arrived, her face expectant. The hostess had definitely dished behind the scenes, and this new girl didn't look disappointed. She flipped a strand of short black hair behind one ear and smiled with unnecessary warmth.**

**"Hello. My name is Amber, and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get you to drink?" I didn't miss** **that she was speaking only to him.**

Esme hissed quietly. She hated it when anyone showed disrespect to any member of the family, but I knew that she held a special place in her heart for Bella, who was her youngest, her baby.

**He looked at me.**

**"I'll have a Coke." It sounded like a question.**

**"Two Cokes," he said.**

**"I'll be right back with that," she assured him with another unnecessary smile. But he didn't see it. He was watching me.**

**"What?" I asked when she left.**

**His eyes stayed fixed on my face. "How are you feeling?"**

**"I'm fine," I replied, surprised by his intensity.**

**"You don't feel dizzy, sick, cold… ?"**

**"Should I?"**

Carlisle appeared surprised. "Well, yes, actually. You should have," he said bemusedly and Bella chuckled under her breath.

"Oh, I did. Just not then," she commented and he frowned slightly, nodding.

**He chuckled at my puzzled tone.**

**"Well, I'm actually waiting for you to go into shock." His face twisted up into that perfect crooked smile.**

**"I don't think that will happen," I said after I could breathe again. "I've always been very good at** **repressing unpleasant things."**

**"Just the same, I'll feel better when you have some sugar and food in you."**

**Right on cue, the waitress appeared with our drinks and a basket of breadsticks. She stood with her** **back to me as she placed them on the table.**

Esme and I frowned in unison. How dare she ignore Bella like that? It's not like Eddie's really anything special to look at. Bitch.

**"Are you ready to order?" she asked Edward.**

**"Bella?" he asked. She turned unwillingly toward me.**

**I picked the first thing I saw on the menu. "Um… I'll have the mushroom ravioli."**

**"And you?" She turned back to him with a smile.**

**"Nothing for me," he said. Of course not.**

Edward gave a sheepish look. "I'm on a diet," he said quietly, like he was letting us all in on some big secret. We all cracked up laughing at his small joke.

**"Let me know if you change your mind." The coy smile was still in place, but he wasn't looking at her, and she left dissatisfied.**

**"Drink," he ordered.**

**I sipped at my soda obediently, and then drank more deeply, surprised by how thirsty I was. I realized I had finished the whole thing when he pushed his glass toward me.**

Carlisle frowned but nodded as though that was what he expected. Honestly, it was what I expected, too. One doesn't experience something like that and come out A-Okay.

**"Thanks," I muttered, still thirsty. The cold from the icy soda was radiating through my chest, and I** **shivered.**

**"Are you cold?"**

**"It's just the Coke," I explained, shivering again.**

**"Don't you have a jacket?" His voice was disapproving.**

**"Yes." I looked at the empty bench next to me. "Oh — I left it in Jessica's car," I realized.**

**Edward was shrugging out of his jacket. I** **suddenly realized that I had never once noticed what he was wearing — not just tonight, but ever. I just couldn't seem to look away from his face. I made myself look now, focusing. He was removing a light beige leather jacket now; underneath he wore an ivory turtleneck sweater. It fit him snugly, emphasizing how muscular his chest was.** **He handed me the jacket, interrupting my ogling.**

Emmett hissed playfully, while snickering. "Hands off," he ordered jokingly and Bella raised one eyebrow, her arm sliding around my waist and pulling me close.

"And why would I need him when I have the most perfect person on the planet?" she questioned and he just grinned back at her, both of them shaking their heads while Edward and I looked at each other in amusement.

**"Thanks," I said again, sliding my arms into his jacket. It was cold — the way my jacket felt when I first picked it up in the morning, hanging in the drafty hallway. I shivered again. It smelled amazing. I inhaled, trying to identify the delicious scent. It didn't smell like cologne. The sleeves were much too long; I shoved them back so I could free my hands.**

**"That color blue looks lovely with your skin," he said, watching me. I was surprised; I looked down,** **flushing, of course.**

**He pushed the bread basket toward me.**

**"Really, I'm not going into shock," I protested**_**, though I wasn't so sure how true the words were. Just remembering the look in those men's eyes…**__**I shook my head to dispel my disturbing thoughts.**_

**"You should be — a normal person would be. You don't even look shaken." He seemed unsettled. He** **stared into my eyes, and I saw how light his eyes were, lighter than I'd ever seen them, golden**

**butterscotch.**

**"I feel very safe with you," I confessed, mesmerized into telling the truth again.**

**That displeased him; his alabaster brow furrowed. He shook his head, frowning.**

**"This is more complicated than I'd planned," he murmured to himself.**

**I picked up a breadstick and began nibbling on the end, measuring his expression. I wondered when it** **would be okay to start questioning him.**

**"Usually you're in a better mood when your eyes are so light," I commented, trying to distract him from whatever thought had left him frowning and somber.**

**He stared at me, stunned. "What?"**

**"You're always crabbier when your eyes are black — I expect it then," I went on. "I have a theory about that."**

**His eyes narrowed. "More theories?"**

**"Mm-hm." I chewed on a small bite of the bread, trying to look indifferent.**

**"I hope you were more creative this time… or are you still stealing from comic books?" His faint smile** **was mocking; his eyes were still tight.**

**"Well, no, I didn't get it from a comic book, but I didn't come up with it on my own, either," I confessed.**

**"And?" he prompted.**

**But then the waitress strode around the partition with my food. I realized we'd been unconsciously** **leaning toward each other across the table, because we both straightened up as she approached. She set the dish in front of me — it looked pretty good — and turned quickly to Edward.**

**"Did you change your mind?" she asked. "Isn't there anything I can get you?" I may have been imagining the double meaning in her words.**

Edward shuddered. "No, you definitely weren't," he muttered in disgust. All of us but Esme, who appeared appalled, shuddered in disgust at the thought of what the waitress was probably thinking at the time.

**"No, thank you, but some more soda would be nice." He gestured with a long white hand to the empty** **cups in front of me.**

**"Sure." She removed the empty glasses and walked away.**

**"You were saying?" he asked.**

**"I'll tell you about it in the car. If…" I paused.**

**"There are conditions?" He raised one eyebrow, his voice ominous.**

**"I do have a few questions, of course."**

**"Of course."**

**The waitress was back with two more Cokes. She sat them down without a word this time, and left** **again.**

**I took a sip.**

**"Well, go ahead," he pushed, his voice still hard.**

Alice rolled her eyes. "Jeez. So pushy," she complained and everyone but Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett agreed with her while Eddie boy pouted.

**I started with the most undemanding. Or so I thought. "Why are you in Port Angeles?"**

**He looked down, folding his large hands together slowly on the table. His eyes flickered up at me from** **under his lashes, the hint of a smirk on his face.**

**"Next."**

**"But that's the easiest one," I objected.**

**"Next," he repeated.**

**I looked down, frustrated. I unrolled my silverware, picked up my fork, and carefully speared a ravioli.**

**I put it in my mouth slowly, still looking down, chewing while I thought. The mushrooms were good. I** **swallowed and took another sip of Coke before I looked up.**

**"Okay, then." I glared at him, and continued slowly. "Let's say, hypothetically of course, that…** **someone… could know what people are thinking, read minds, you know — with a few exceptions."**

**"Just one exception," he corrected, "hypothetically."**

**"All right, with one exception, then." I was thrilled that he was playing along, but I tried to seem casual.**

**"How does that work? What are the limitations? How would… that someone… find someone else at** **exactly the right time? How would he know she was in trouble?" I wondered if my convoluted questions even made sense.**

**"Hypothetically?" he asked.**

**"Sure."**

**"Well, if… that someone…"**

**"Let's call him 'Joe,'" I suggested.**

Emmett grinned goofily. "So, does that mean I can call you Joey boy, Eddie?" he asked cheekily and Edward scowled at his brawny mate and shook his head.

**He smiled wryly. "Joe, then. If Joe had been paying attention, the timing wouldn't have needed to be quite so exact." He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Only you could get into trouble in a town this small. You would have devastated their crime rate statistics for a decade, you know."**

**"We were speaking of a hypothetical case," I reminded him frostily.**

**He laughed at me, his eyes warm.**

**"Yes, we were," he agreed. "Shall we call you 'Jane'?"**

I frowned in distaste. "You are absolutely not a Jane," I stated in revulsion and everyone agreed with me.

**"How did you know?" I asked, unable to curb my intensity. I realized I was leaning toward him again.**

**He seemed to be wavering, torn by some internal dilemma. His eyes locked with mine, and I guessed he was making the decision right then whether or not to simply tell me the truth.**

**"You can trust me, you know," I murmured. I reached forward, without thinking, to touch his folded** **hands, but he slid them away minutely, and I pulled my hand back.**

**"I don't know if I have a choice anymore." His voice was almost a whisper. "I was wrong — you're much more observant than I gave you credit for."**

**"I thought you were always right."**

Jasper grinned at that. He loved to find any possible tactical advantage he could against Edward considering his manner of cheating with his gift.

**"I used to be." He shook his head again. "I was wrong about you on one other thing, as well. You're not a magnet for accidents — that's not a broad enough classification. You are a magnet for trouble. If there is anything dangerous within a ten-mile radius, it will invariably find you."**

**"And you put yourself into that category?" I guessed.**

**His face turned cold, expressionless. "Unequivocally."**

Esme groaned quietly at that but stayed silent, though a slight frown turned down her lips.

**I stretched my hand across the table again — ignoring him when he pulled back slightly once more — to touch the back of his hand shyly with my fingertips. His skin was cold and hard, like a stone. **_**It was smooth but somehow… it just didn't feel quite right. But, to be honest, I was surprised that he allowed the contact at all.**_

**"Thank you." My voice was fervent with gratitude. "That's twice now."**

**His face softened. "Let's not try for three, agreed?"**

**I scowled, but nodded. He moved his hand out from under mine, placing both of his under the table.**

**But he leaned toward me.**

**"I followed you to Port Angeles," he admitted, speaking in a rush. "I've never tried to keep a specific** **person alive before, and it's much more troublesome than I would have believed. But that's probably just because it's you. Ordinary people seem to make it through the day without so many catastrophes."**

**He paused. I wondered if it should bother me that he was following me; instead I felt a strange surge of pleasure. He stared, maybe wondering why my lips were curving into an involuntary smile.**

**"Did you ever think that maybe my number was up the first time, with the van, and that you've been** **interfering with fate?" I speculated, distracting myself.**

I frowned. I didn't like to think of that possibility. It was too painful to contemplate.

**"That wasn't the first time," he said, and his voice was hard to hear. I stared at him in amazement, but he was looking down. "Your number was up the first time I met you."**

**I felt a spasm of fear at his words, and the abrupt memory of his violent black glare that first day… but the overwhelming sense of safety I felt in his presence stifled it. By the time he looked up to read my eyes, there was no trace of fear in them.**

**"You remember?" he asked, his angel's face grave.**

**"Yes." I was calm.**

**"And yet here you sit." There was a trace of disbelief in his voice; he raised one eyebrow.**

**"Yes, here I sit… because of you." I paused. **

Esme smiled at her bronze-haired son. "Yes, it is," she declared softly, shooting the ginger vampire a loving look.

**"Because somehow you knew how to find me today… ?" I prompted.**

**He pressed his lips together, staring at me through narrowed eyes, deciding again. His eyes flashed down to my full plate, and then back to me.**

**"You eat, I'll talk," he bargained.**

**I quickly scooped up another ravioli and popped it in my mouth.**

**"It's harder than it should be — keeping track of you. Usually I can find someone very easily, once** **I've heard their mind before." He looked at me anxiously, and I realized I had frozen. I made myself swallow, then stabbed another ravioli and tossed it in.**

**"I was keeping tabs on Jessica, not carefully — like I said, only you could find trouble in Port Angeles — and at first I didn't notice when you took off on your own. Then, when I realized that you weren't with her anymore, I went looking for you at the bookstore I saw in her head. I could tell that you hadn't gone in, and that you'd gone south… and I knew you would have to turn around soon. So I was just waiting for you, randomly searching through the thoughts of people on the street — to see if anyone had noticed you so I would know where you were. I had no reason to be worried… but I was strangely anxious…"**

**He was lost in thought, staring past me, seeing things I couldn't imagine.**

**"I started to drive in circles, still… listening. The sun was finally setting, and I was about to get out and** **follow you on foot. And then —" He stopped, clenching his teeth together in sudden fury. He made an effort to calm himself.**

**"Then what?" I whispered. He continued to stare over my head.**

**"I heard what they were thinking," he growled, his upper lip curling slightly back over his teeth. "I saw** **your face in his mind." He suddenly leaned forward, one elbow appearing on the table, his hand covering his eyes. The movement was so swift it startled me.**

**"It was very… hard — you can't imagine how hard — for me to simply take you away, and leave them… alive." His voice was muffled by his arm. "I could have let you go with Jessica and Angela, but I was afraid if you left me alone, I would go looking for them," he admitted in a whisper.**

I bit my tongue lightly. He should have. I would have to ask him later how he dealt with them. Because if he hadn't then he would be the second to face my wrath, after those bastards – and at my hands they would suffer and beg for death before I sent them to the humans to be incarcerated.

**I sat quietly, dazed, my thoughts incoherent. My hands were folded in my lap, and I was leaning weakly against the back of the seat. He still had his face in his hand, and he was as still as if he'd been carved from the stone his skin resembled.**

**Finally he looked up, his eyes seeking mine, full of his own questions.**

**"Are you ready to go home?" he asked.**

**"I'm ready to leave," I qualified, overly grateful that we had the hour-long ride home together. **

Bella rolled her eyes. "Not that it was really an hour with you driving," she mused and we all chuckled. Bella was as bad as the rest of us when it came to driving, now.

**I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him.**

**The waitress appeared as if she'd been called. Or watching.**

Edward frowned in annoyance. "It was the latter," he said curtly.

**"How are we doing?" she asked Edward.**

**"We're ready for the check, thank you." His voice was quiet, rougher, still reflecting the strain of our** **conversation. It seemed to muddle her. He looked up, waiting.**

**"S-sure," she stuttered. "Here you go." She pulled a small leather folder from the front pocket of her** **black apron and handed it to him.**

**There was a bill in his hand already. He slipped it into the folder and handed it right back to her.**

**"No change." He smiled. Then he stood up, and I scrambled awkwardly to my feet.**

**She smiled invitingly at him again. "You have a nice evening."**

**He didn't look away from me as he thanked her. I suppressed a smile.**

**He walked close beside me to the door, still careful not to touch me. I remembered what Jessica had** **said about her relationship with Mike, how they were almost to the first-kiss stage. I sighed. **

**Edward seemed to hear me, and he looked down curiously. I looked at the sidewalk, grateful that he didn't seem to be able to know what I was thinking.**

Edward frowned. "Well, I'm glad someone enjoys it," he said sarcastically and Bella grinned.

"Thank you, I appreciate that," she said insolently and I grinned.

**He opened the passenger door, holding it for me as I stepped in, shutting it softly behind me. I watched him walk around the front of the car, amazed, yet again, by how graceful he was. I probably should have been used to that by now — but I wasn't. I had a feeling Edward wasn't the kind of person anyone got used to.**

**Once inside the car, he started the engine and turned the heater on high. It had gotten very cold, and I** **guessed the good weather was at an end. I was warm in his jacket, though, breathing in the scent of it**

**when I thought he couldn't see.**

**Edward pulled out through the traffic, apparently without a glance, flipping around to head toward the** **freeway.**

**"Now," he said significantly, "it's your turn."**

"Okay, that was the end of the chapter," she said, tossing the book to Alice, who grinned as she caught it.

"Alright, here goes…"


	11. Theory

**Chapter Eleven: Theory**

Alice

I took the book from Rose. I still couldn't believe that I never had any idea that Bella went through that. But I wasn't surprised that she never told anyone. She was so selfless that she wouldn't want to bother or upset anyone. Silly sister of mine, I thought fondly.

**Can I ask just one more?" I pleaded as Edward accelerated much too quickly down the quiet street. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to the road.**

**He sighed.**

**"One," he agreed. His lips pressed together into a cautious line.**

**"Well… you said you knew I hadn't gone into the bookstore, and that I had gone south. I was just wondering how you knew that."**

**He looked away, deliberating.**

**"I thought we were past all the evasiveness," I grumbled.**

I smirked. Now that Bella and Edward were both with their true mates, they really did make good siblings – they could annoy each other to no end.

**He almost smiled.**

**"Fine, then. I followed your scent." He looked at the road, giving me time to compose my face. I couldn't think of an acceptable response to that, but I filed it carefully away for future study. I tried to refocus. I wasn't ready to let him be finished, now that he was finally explaining things.**

**"And then you didn't answer one of my first questions…" I stalled.**

Jasper grinned. "Nice one, Bella," he said approvingly and Edward scowled at him.

**He looked at me with disapproval. "Which one?"**

**"How does it work — the mind-reading thing? Can you read anybody's mind, anywhere? How do you do it? Can the rest of your family…?"I felt silly, asking for clarification on make-believe.**

We all burst out laughing at Edward's sulky face. "Well, she never really asked any of those," he complained, but that just made us laugh harder.

**"That's more than one," he pointed out. I simply intertwined my fingers and gazed at him, waiting.**

I couldn't help but chuckle. My sister, ever the stubborn one. Bella grinned at me, almost like she knew what I was thinking.

**"No, it's just me. And I can't hear anyone, anywhere. I have to be fairly close. The more familiar someone's… 'voice' is, the farther away I can hear them. But still, no more than a few miles." He paused thoughtfully. "It's a little like being in a huge hall filled with people, everyone talking at once. It's just a hum — a buzzing of voices in the background. Until I focus on one voice, and then what they're thinking is clear.**

**"Most of the time I tune it all out — it can be very distracting. And then it's easier to seem normal" — he frowned as he said the word — "when I'm not accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words."**

**"Why do you think you can't hear me?" I asked curiously.**

"Well, now we know," Emmett grinned cheekily and Edward pouted, put out by Bella's ability to render his gift useless. I just smirked at him.

**He looked at me, his eyes enigmatic.**

**"I don't know," he murmured. "The only guess I have is that maybe your mind doesn't work the same way the rest of theirs do. Like your thoughts are on the AM frequency and I'm only getting FM." He grinned at me, suddenly amused.**

**"My mind doesn't work right? I'm a freak?" **

Rosalie smiled at her mate, murmuring something too quiet for the rest of us to hear.

**The words bothered me more than they should — probably because his speculation hit home. I'd always suspected as much, and it embarrassed me to have it confirmed.**

**"I hear voices in my mind and you're worried that you're the freak," he laughed. **

**"Don't worry, it's just a theory…" His face tightened. "Which brings us back to you."**

**I sighed. How to begin?**

**"Aren't we past all the evasions now?" he reminded me softly.**

**I looked away from his face for the first time, trying to find words. I happened to notice the speedometer.**

**"Holy crow!" I shouted. "Slow down!"**

**"What's wrong?" He was startled. But the car didn't decelerate.**

**"You're going a hundred miles an hour!" I was still shouting. **

Bella looked amused. "You have my sympathies for having to drive so slowly when you were with me,' she muttered absentmindedly and I agreed with her. That was nothing for us.

**I shot a panicky glance out the window, but it was too dark to see much. The road was only visible in the long patch of bluish brightness from the headlights. The forest along both sides of the road was like a black wall — as hard as a wall of steel if we veered off the road at this speed.**

**"Relax, Bella." He rolled his eyes, still not slowing.**

**"Are you trying to kill us?" I demanded.**

**"We're not going to crash."**

**I tried to modulate my voice. "Why are you in such a hurry?"**

**"I always drive like this." He turned to smile crookedly at me.**

**"Keep your eyes on the road!"**

Bella chuckled and we all followed suit. It would seem silly to her, considering she was one of us now and could see for herself the ridiculousness of that statement.

**"I've never been in an accident, Bella — I've never even gotten a ticket." He grinned and tapped his forehead. "Built-in radar detector."**

**"Very funny." I fumed. "Charlie's a cop, remember? I was raised to abide by traffic laws. Besides, if you turn us into a Volvo pretzel around a tree trunk, you can probably just walk away."**

Edward mock-glared at our sister. "I hate it when you're right," he muttered.

**"Probably," he agreed with a short, hard laugh. "But you can't." He sighed, and I watched with relief as the needle gradually drifted toward eighty. "Happy?"**

**"Almost."**

**"I hate driving slow," he muttered.**

**"This is slow?"**

**"Enough commentary on my driving," he snapped. "I'm still waiting for your latest theory."**

Jasper smirked. "You would make a good strategist," he complemented Bella, who just grinned back at him and shook her head. She and Jasper often talked about his time in the Civil War because Bella was the only one willing to sit and talk to him about it for hours on end. Not even I could manage that. Jasper was my mate, but history just wasn't an interest of mine.

**I bit my lip. He looked down at me, his honey eyes unexpectedly gentle.**

**"I won't laugh," he promised.**

**"I'm more afraid that you'll be angry with me."**

**"Is it that bad?"**

**"Pretty much, yeah."**

**He waited. I was looking down at my hands, so I couldn't see his expression.**

**"Go ahead." His voice was calm.**

**"I don't know how to start," I admitted.**

**"Why don't you start at the beginning… you said you didn't come up with this on your own."**

**"No."**

**"What got you started — a book? A movie?" he probed.**

Edward laughed lightly. "If only I had known that she already knew everything. It would have simplified things quite a bit," he said, glancing at our brunette sister who nodded in agreement.

**"No — it was Saturday, at the beach." I risked a glance up at his face. He looked puzzled.**

**"I ran into an old family friend —Jacob Black," I continued. "His dad and Charlie have been friends since I was a baby."**

**He still looked confused.**

Carlisle looked at him curiously. "You didn't recognize the name?" he guessed and Edward nodded.

**"His dad is one of the Quileute elders." I watched him carefully. His confused expression froze in place. **

**"We went for a walk —" I edited all my scheming out of the story "— and he was telling me some old legends — trying to scare me, I think. He told me one…" I hesitated.**

**"Go on," he said.**

**"About vampires." I realized I was whispering. I couldn't look at his face now. But I saw his knuckles tighten convulsively on the wheel.**

**"And you immediately thought of me?" Still calm.**

**"No. He… mentioned your family."**

Esme laughed quietly. "I have a feeling he would have divulged any number of secrets in his quest to impress you," she teased lightly and Bella looked like she would be blushing if she could.

**He was silent, staring at the road.**

**I was worried suddenly, worried about protecting Jacob.**

**"He just thought it was a silly superstition," I said quickly. "He didn't expect me to think anything of it." It didn't seem like enough; I had to confess. "It was my fault, I forced him to tell me."**

**"Why?"**

Bella snorted. "You really think I was just going to let it go after seeing everything I did. Not a chance," she emphasized and our bronze-haired brother held his hands up in mock-surrender.

**"Lauren said something about you — she was trying to provoke me. And an older boy from the tribe said your family didn't come to the reservation, only it sounded like he meant something different. So I got Jacob alone and I tricked it out of him," I admitted, hanging my head.**

**He startled me by laughing. **

Rose hissed quietly and Bella kissed her on the cheek, calming the blond vampire.

**I glared up at him. He was laughing, but his eyes were fierce, staring ahead.**

**"Tricked him how?" he asked.**

**"I tried to flirt — it worked better than I thought it would." Disbelief colored my tone as I remembered.**

**"I'd like to have seen that." He chuckled darkly. **

**"And you accused me of dazzling people — poor Jacob Black."**

**I blushed and looked out my window into the night.**

**"What did you do then?" he asked after a minute.**

**"I did some research on the Internet."**

"I still can't believe you actually found some true things and pieced it all together with how little you knew to start with," I said in awe and Bella hid her face in Rose's neck.

**"And did that convince you?" His voice sounded barely interested. But his hands were clamped hard onto the steering wheel.**

**"No. Nothing fit. Most of it was kind of silly. And then…" I stopped.**

**"What?"**

**"I decided it didn't matter," I whispered.**

**"It didn't matter?" His tone made me look up — I had finally broken through his carefully composed mask. His face was incredulous, with just a hint of the anger I'd feared.**

Esme hissed. "Edward," she reprimanded him and he hung his head, mumbling an apology. I just glared at him. Fool.

**"No," I said softly. "It doesn't matter to me what you are."**

**A hard, mocking edge entered his voice. "You don't care if I'm a monster? If I'm not human!"**

**"No."**

**He was silent, staring straight ahead again. His face was bleak and cold.**

**"You're angry," I sighed. "I shouldn't have said anything."**

**"No," he said, but his tone was as hard as his face. "I'd rather know what you're thinking — even if what you're thinking is insane."**

**"So I'm wrong again?" I challenged.**

**"That's not what I was referring to. 'It doesn't matter'!" he quoted, gritting his teeth together.**

**"I'm right?" I gasped.**

**"Does it matter?"**

**I took a deep breath.**

**"Not really." I paused. "But I am curious." My voice, at least, was composed.**

I grinned. "Are you ever not curious?" I teased and Bella laughed.

**He was suddenly resigned. "What are you curious about?"**

**"How old are you?"**

**"Seventeen," he answered promptly.**

Bella rolled her eyes. "No, actually, only your body is seventeen," she corrected him and I laughed at Edward's stumped expression.

**"And how long have you been seventeen?"**

**His lips twitched as he stared at the road. "A while," he admitted at last.**

**"Okay." I smiled, pleased that he was still being honest with me. He stared down at me with watchful eyes, much as he had before, when he was worried I would go into shock. I smiled wider in encouragement, and he frowned.**

**"Don't laugh — but how can you come out during the daytime?"**

**He laughed anyway. "Myth."**

**"Burned by the sun?"**

**"Myth."**

**"Sleeping in coffins?"**

**"Myth." He hesitated for a moment, and a peculiar tone entered his voice. "I can't sleep."**

"Yes," Emmett said, mock-seriously. "I'm afraid we're all suffering from some mild insomnia." We all laughed, enjoying getting to spend this time together.

**It took me a minute to absorb that. "At all?"**

**"Never," he said, his voice nearly inaudible. He turned to look at me with a wistful expression. The golden eyes held mine, and I lost my train of thought. I stared at him until he looked away.**

**"You haven't asked me the most important question yet." His voice was hard now, and when he looked at me again his eyes were cold.**

**I blinked, still dazed. "Which one is that?"**

**"You aren't concerned about my diet?" he asked sarcastically.**

**"Oh," I murmured, "that."**

**"Yes, that." His voice was bleak. "Don't you want to know if I drink blood?"**

I rolled my eyes. "Did we really ever think you two were mates?" I asked incredulously. The others seemed to echo my thoughts.

**I flinched. "Well, Jacob said something about that."**

**"What did Jacob say?" he asked flatly.**

**"He said you didn't… hunt people. He said your family wasn't supposed to be dangerous because you only hunted animals."**

**"He said we weren't dangerous?" His voice was deeply skeptical.**

I rolled my eyes. "No, he said you weren't _supposed _to be dangerous," I corrected and he rolled his eyes back at me.

**"Not exactly. He said you weren't supposed to be dangerous. But the Quileute's still didn't want you on their land, just in case."**

**He looked forward, but I couldn't tell if he was watching the road or not.**

**"So was he right? About not hunting people?" I tried to keep my voice as even as possible.**

**"The Quileutes have a long memory," he whispered.**

**I took it as a confirmation.**

**"Don't let that make you complacent, though," he warned me. **

**"They're right to keep their distance from us. We are still dangerous."**

**"I don't understand."**

**"We try," he explained slowly. "We're usually very good at what we do. Sometimes we make mistakes. Me, for example, allowing myself to be alone with you."**

**"This is a mistake?" I heard the sadness in my voice, but I didn't know if he could as well.**

Bella sounded amused when she spoke. "Well, it was a mistake. We just didn't realize it," she shrugged, pulling Rose closer to her. I grinned. They were so adorable!

**"A very dangerous one," he murmured.**

**We were both silent then. I watched the headlights twist with the curves of the road.**

**They moved too fast; it didn't look real, it looked like a video game. I was aware of the time slipping away so quickly, like the black road beneath us, and I was hideously afraid that I would never have another chance to be with him like this again — openly, the walls between us gone for once. His words hinted at an end, and I recoiled from the idea. **_**Worse, the image of blond flashed in my mind again and I felt an unbearable agony as I contemplated the very idea of that end. Why, I couldn't fathom, but I did. **_**I couldn't waste one minute I had with him.**

**"Tell me more," I asked desperately, not caring what he said, just so I could hear his voice again.**

**He looked at me quickly, startled by the change in my tone. "What more do you want to know?"**

I rolled my eyes. "Idiot," I muttered under my breath.

**"Tell me why you hunt animals instead of people," **

**I suggested, my voice still tinged with desperation. I realized my eyes were wet, and I fought against the grief that was trying to overpower me.**

**"I don't want to be a monster." His voice was very low.**

**"But animals aren't enough?"**

**He paused. "I can't be sure, of course, but I'd compare it to living on tofu and soy milk; we call ourselves vegetarians, our little inside joke. It doesn't completely satiate the hunger — or rather thirst. But it keens us strong enough to resist. Most of the time." His tone turned ominous. "Sometimes it's more difficult than others."**

**"Is it very difficult for you now?" I asked.**

**He sighed. "Yes."**

**"But you're not hungry now," I said confidently — stating, not asking.**

"How did you know that?" Carlisle asked curiously and Bella and Edward laughed.

"You'll see," Edward promised.

**"Why do you think that?"**

**"Your eyes. I told you I had a theory. I've noticed that people — men in particular — are crabbier when they're hungry."**

Carlisle chuckled. "Yes, that does seem to be the pattern, doesn't it?" he asked wryly and Esme grinned at her husband.

**He chuckled. "You are observant, aren't you?"**

**I didn't answer; I just listened to the sound of his laugh, committing it to memory.**

**"Were you hunting this weekend, with Emmett?" I asked when it was quiet again.**

**"Yes." He paused for a second, as if deciding whether or not to say something. "I didn't want to leave, but it was necessary. It's a bit easier to be around you when I'm not thirsty."**

**"Why didn't you want to leave?"**

**"It makes me… anxious… to be away from you." His eyes were gentle but intense, and they seemed to be making my bones turn soft. "I wasn't joking when I asked you to try not to fall in the ocean or get run over last Thursday. I was distracted all weekend, worrying about you. **

Emmett grumbled, obviously not quite over having not been able to fully enjoy that hunt. I rolled my eyes.

**And after what happened tonight, I'm surprised that you did make it through a whole weekend unscathed." He shook his head, and then seemed to remember something. "Well, not totally unscathed."**

**"What?"**

**"Your hands," he reminded me. I looked down at my palms, at the almost-healed scrapes across the heels of my hands. His eyes missed nothing.**

**"I fell," I sighed.**

Bella grinned and I looked at her questioningly. "I don't fall anymore," she said smugly and I grinned at her.

**"That's what I thought." His lips curved up at the corners. "I suppose, being you, it could have been much worse — and that possibility tormented me the entire time I was away. It was a very long three days. I really got on Emmett's nerves." He smiled ruefully at me.**

**"Three days? Didn't you just get back today?"**

**"No, we got back Sunday."**

**"Then why weren't any of you in school?" I was frustrated, almost angry as I thought of how much disappointment I had suffered because of his absence.**

**"Well, you asked if the sun hurt me, and it doesn't. But I can't go out in the sunlight — at least, not where anyone can see."**

**"Why?"**

**"I'll show you sometime," he promised.**

Bella grinned. "It certainly was a sight to see," she commented.

**I thought about it for a moment.**

**"You might have called me," I decided.**

**He was puzzled. "But I knew you were safe."**

I rolled my eyes. "Idiot," I muttered again and Edward grimaced. Good. Maybe he had learned something.

**"But I didn't know where you were. I —" I hesitated, dropping my eyes.**

**"What?" His velvety voice was compelling.**

**"I didn't like it. Not seeing you. It makes me anxious, too." I blushed to be saying this out loud.**

**He was quiet. I glanced up, apprehensive, and saw that his expression was pained.**

**"Ah," he groaned quietly. "This is wrong."**

**I couldn't understand his response. "What did I say?"**

**"Don't you see, Bella? It's one thing for me to make myself miserable, but a wholly other thing for you to be so involved." He turned his anguished eyes to the road, his words flowing almost too fast for me to understand. "I don't want to hear that you feel that way." His voice was low but urgent. His words cut me. "It's wrong. It's not safe. I'm dangerous, Bella — please, grasp that."**

**"No." I tried very hard not to look like a sulky child.**

**"I'm serious," he growled.**

**"So am I. I told you, it doesn't matter what you are. It's too late."**

**His voice whipped out, low and harsh. "Never say that."**

I hissed. I didn't like it that he had disregarded and even scorned my vision. He should have known better. Besides, it really wasn't his choice to make. It was Bella's.

**I bit my lip and was glad he couldn't know how much that hurt. I stared out at the road.**

**We must be close now. He was driving much too fast.**

**"What are you thinking?" he asked, his voice still raw. I just shook my head, not sure if I could speak. I could feel his gaze on my face, but I kept my eyes forward.**

"That really does drive me crazy sometimes," Edward muttered and Bella grinned.

"Good," she said smugly and we all laughed when Edward glared at her.

**"Are you crying?" He sounded appalled. I hadn't realized the moisture in my eyes had brimmed over. I quickly rubbed my hand across my cheek, and sure enough, traitor tears were there, betraying me.**

**"No," I said, but my voice cracked.**

**I saw him reach toward me hesitantly with his right hand, but then he stopped and placed it slowly back on the steering wheel.**

**"I'm sorry." His voice burned with regret. I knew he wasn't just apologizing for the words that had upset me.**

**The darkness slipped by us in silence.**

**"Tell me something," he asked after another minute, and I could hear him struggle to use a lighter tone.**

**"Yes?"**

**"What were you thinking tonight, just before I came around the corner?" **_**he asked, clearly struggling to stay calm.**_

_**I shivered. "I was trying to fight back. They stumbled back because they weren't expecting me to lash out, and I was trying to figure out what to do next," I said quietly.**_

**He shook his head. "You were right — I'm definitely fighting fate trying to keep you alive," he commented, trying to keep the mood light.**

**I sighed. We were slowing, passing into the boundaries of Forks. It had taken less than twenty minutes.**

**"Will I see you tomorrow?" I demanded.**

**"Yes — I have a paper due, too." He smiled. "I'll save you a seat at lunch."**

**It was silly, after everything we'd been through tonight, how that little promise sent flutters through my stomach, and made me unable to speak.**

**We were in front of Charlie's house. The lights were on, my truck in its place, everything utterly normal. It was like waking from a dream. He stopped the car, but I didn't move.**

**"Do you promise to be there tomorrow?"**

**"I promise."**

**I considered that for a moment, then nodded. I pulled his jacket off, taking one last whiff.**

**"You can keep it — you don't have a jacket for tomorrow," he reminded me.**

**I handed it back to him. "I don't want to have to explain to **

**Charlie."**

Emmett laughed his booming laugh. "Can you imagine Charlie's face if that happened?" he grinned widely at the thought.

**"Oh, right." He grinned.**

**I hesitated, my hand on the door handle, trying to prolong the moment.**

**"Bella?" he asked in a different tone — serious, but hesitant.**

**"Yes?" I turned back to him too eagerly.**

**"Will you promise me something?"**

**"Yes," I said, and instantly regretted my unconditional agreement. What if he asked me to stay away from him? I couldn't keep that promise.**

**"Don't go into the woods alone."**

**I stared at him in blank confusion. "Why?"**

**He frowned, and his eyes were tight as he stared past me out the window.**

**"I'm not always the most dangerous thing out there. Let's leave it at that."**

**I shuddered slightly at the sudden bleakness in his voice, but I was relieved. This, at least, was an easy promise to honor. "Whatever you say."**

**"I'll see you tomorrow," he sighed, and I knew he wanted me to leave now.**

**"Tomorrow, then." I opened the door unwillingly.**

**"Bella?" I turned and he was leaning toward me, his pale, glorious face just inches from mine. My heart stopped beating.**

Carlisle looked concerned and I had to stifle a laugh. Carlisle, the eternal Doctor, would worry about that when Bella was already a vampire.

Bella clearly saw our Father's concern as well and put on a mock-solemn expression. "Yes, I'm afraid it won't be beating anymore," she said apologetically and Carlisle grinned.

**"Sleep well," he said. **

**His breath blew in my face, stunning me. It was the same exquisite scent that clung to his jacket, but in a more concentrated form. I blinked, thoroughly dazed. He leaned away.**

**I was unable to move until my brain had somewhat unscrambled itself. Then I stepped out of the car awkwardly, having to use the frame for support. I thought I heard him chuckle, but the sound was too quiet for me to be certain.**

Emmett chuckled and Bella glared at him.

**He waited till I had stumbled to the front door, and then I heard his engine quietly rev. I turned to watch the silver car disappear around the corner. I realized it was very cold.**

**I reached for the key mechanically, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.**

**Charlie called from the living room. "Bella?"**

**"Yeah, Dad, it's me." I walked in to see him. He was watching a baseball game.**

**"You're home early."**

**"Am I?" I was surprised. **_**It felt as though it had been an eternity since I left the house earlier.**_

**"It's not even eight yet," he told me. "Did you girls have fun?"**

**"Yeah — it was lots of fun." **

Several people growled at that – I think I was one of them.

**My head was spinning as I tried to remember all the way back to the girls' night out I had planned. "They both found dresses."**

**"Are you all right?"**

**"I'm just tired. I did a lot of walking."**

All of the women in the room shuddered and the boys all snarled quietly.

**"Well, maybe you should go lie down." He sounded concerned. I wondered what my face looked like.**

**"I'm just going to call Jessica first."**

**"Weren't you just with her?" he asked, surprised.**

**"Yes — but I left my jacket in her car. I want to make sure she brings it tomorrow."**

I smirked. Nice one, Bella…

**"Well, give her a chance to get home first."**

**"Right," I agreed.**

**I went to the kitchen and fell, exhausted, into a chair. I was really feeling dizzy now. I wondered if I was going to go into shock after all. **

**Get a grip, I told myself. **_**I could fall apart later, when I was alone.**_

**The phone rang suddenly, startling me. I yanked it off the hook.**

**"Hello?" I asked breathlessly.**

**"Bella?"**

**"Hey, Jess, I was just going to call you."**

**"You made it home?" Her voice was relieved… and surprised.**

She nearly didn't, I thought darkly, still deeply disturbed that such a thing happened to my sister.

**"Yes. I left my jacket in your car — could you bring it to me tomorrow?"**

**"Sure. But tell me what happened!" she demanded.**

**"Um, tomorrow — in Trig, okay?"**

**She caught on quickly. "Oh, is your dad there?"**

**"Yes, that's right."**

**"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow, then. Bye!" I could hear the impatience in her voice.**

**"Bye, Jess."**

**I walked up the stairs slowly, a heavy stupor clouding my mind. I went through the motions of getting ready for bed without paying any attention to what I was doing. It wasn't until I was in the shower — the water too hot, burning my skin — that I realized I was freezing. I shuddered violently for several minutes before the steaming spray could finally relax my rigid muscles. Then I stood in the shower, too tired to move, until the hot water began to run out.**

**I stumbled out, wrapping myself securely in a towel, trying to hold the heat from the water in so the aching shivers wouldn't return. I dressed for bed swiftly and climbed under my quilt, curling into a ball, hugging myself to keep warm. A few small shudders trembled through me.**

**My mind still swirled dizzily, full of images I couldn't understand, and some I fought to repress. Nothing seemed clear at first, but as I fell gradually closer to unconsciousness, a few certainties became evident.**

**About three things I was absolutely positive.**

**First, Edward was a vampire. **

**Second, there was part of him — and I didn't know how potent that part might be — that thirsted for my blood. **

**And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.**

Bella chuckled. "If only I had known," she commented, shaking her head and kissing Rosalie swiftly. We all agreed.

"Okay, who's next?" I asked happily.

"I am," Jasper said and I handed him the book, the two of us exchanging a loving look before he began to read.


	12. Interrogations

**Chapter Twelve: Interrogations**

Jasper

I took the book from my wife, smiling at her a little. This book is extremely interesting but I swear, the emotional rollercoaster it's putting us all through is a little taxing. Still, it's worth it to be able to get to know my little sister even better.

**Interrogations**

**It was very hard, in the morning, to argue with the part of me that was sure last night was a dream. Logic wasn't on my side, or common sense.**

**I clung to the parts I couldn't have imagined — like his smell. I was sure I could never have dreamed that up on my own.**

**It was foggy and dark outside my window, absolutely perfect. He had no reason not to be in school today. I dressed in my heavy clothes, remembering I didn't have a jacket.**

**Further proof that my memory was real.**

**When I got downstairs, Charlie was gone again — I was running later than I'd realized. **

I didn't pause as I pondered Bella and Charlie's relationship. They were really very similar in a number of ways. The two of them, from my observations at least, were both quiet, determined people who preferred not to have the attention be on them. They each had difficulty relating their emotions to others, but at the same time – their emotions were strong, stronger than others'. With Charlie, this was to a lesser extent – his emotions were higher than average for a human but less than that of a vampire. But Bella… Bella's emotions were the most vibrant that I had ever felt. When she loved, she loved unconditionally, without hesitation or reservation. And when she suffered, she suffered all of the pain in heaven and hell… I had truly never experienced anything like it.

**I swallowed a granola bar in three bites, chased it down with milk straight from the carton, and then hurried out the door. Hopefully the rain would hold off until I could find Jessica.**

**It was unusually foggy; the air was almost smoky with it. The mist was ice cold where it clung to the exposed skin on my face and neck. I couldn't wait to get the heat going in my truck. It was such a thick fog that I was a few feet down the driveway before I realized there was a car in it: a silver car. **

**My heart thudded, stuttered, and then picked up again in double time.**

**I didn't see where he came from, but suddenly he was there, pulling the door open for me.**

**"Do you want to ride with me today?" he asked, amused by my expression as he caught me by surprise yet again. There was uncertainty in his voice. He was really giving me a choice — I was free to refuse, and part of him hoped for that. It was a vain hope.**

**"Yes, thank you," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. As I stepped into the warm car, I noticed his tan jacket was slung over the headrest of the passenger seat. The door closed behind me, and, sooner than should be possible, he was sitting next to me, starting the car.**

I shook my head. I had disapproved of Edward's actions then, but I was glad for them, now. Without his disregard for all that we had practiced and adhered to for decades, my little sister wouldn't be in this room right now and – if certain events had happened differently – Rosalie would now be alone, Edward and Emmett would be together but feel the guilt of Emmett and Rose's lost relationship, and Bella would never have met her soul mate and would have been left feeling unfulfilled for the duration of her human life. It was a depressing thought.

I saw Emmett start to open his mouth and sent him a wave of contentment. I preferred silence when I read, so I used my gift to subtly encourage a content, calm atmosphere as I read.

**"I brought the jacket for you. I didn't want you to get sick or something." His voice was guarded. I noticed that he wore no jacket himself, just a light gray knit V-neck shirt with long sleeves. Again, the fabric clung to his perfectly muscled chest. It was a colossal tribute to his face that it kept my eyes away from his body. **_**Yet, there was still something missing. I disregarded my ridiculous thought. I was being silly.**_

**"I'm not quite that delicate," I said, but I pulled the jacket onto my lap, pushing my arms through the too-long sleeves, curious to see if the scent could possibly be as good as I remembered. It was better.**

**"Aren't you?" he contradicted in a voice so low I wasn't sure if he meant for me to hear.**

Edward smiled wryly. "Figures you would still hear me," he murmured and Bella smirked before they grinned at each other. I raised one eyebrow at my two siblings before continuing.

**We drove through the fog-shrouded streets, always too fast, feeling awkward. I was, at least. Last night all the walls were down… almost all. I didn't know if we were still being as candid today. It left me tongue-tied. I waited for him to speak.**

**He turned to smirk at me. "What, no twenty questions today?"**

**"Do my questions bother you?" I asked, relieved.**

**"Not as much as your reactions do." He looked like he was joking, but I couldn't be sure.**

Bella looked at Edward questioningly and he just shrugged while frowning slightly.

**I frowned. "Do I react badly?"**

**"No, that's the problem. You take everything so coolly — it's unnatural. It makes me wonder what you're really thinking."**

**"I always tell you what I'm really thinking."**

**"You edit," he accused.**

I rolled my eyes slightly. "Poor mind reader having trouble without being able to use his gift?" I asked with mock-sympathy in my voice. He pouted and refused to answer while everyone else grinned.

**"Not very much."**

**"Enough to drive me insane."**

**"You don't want to hear it," I mumbled, almost whispered. As soon as the words were out, I regretted them. The pain in my voice was very faint; I could only hope he hadn't noticed it.**

**He didn't respond, and I wondered if I had ruined the mood. His face was unreadable as we drove into the school parking lot. Something occurred to me belatedly.**

**"Where's the rest of your family?" I asked — more than glad to be alone with him, but remembering that his car was usually full.**

**"They took Rosalie's car." He shrugged as he parked next to a glossy red convertible with the top up. "Ostentatious, isn't it?"**

**"Um, wow," I breathed. "If she has that, why does she ride with you?"**

**"Like I said, it's ostentatious. We try to blend in."**

**"You don't succeed." I laughed and shook my head as we got out of the car. **

Carlisle smiled ironically. "That's certainly something that we'll have to work on. I hadn't realized before just how many mistakes we made," he muttered while we all agreed. Reading this had enlightened us as to the many flaws in our charade, thanks to Bella's perceptiveness and attention to detail.

**I wasn't late anymore; his lunatic driving had gotten me to school in plenty of time. "So why did Rosalie drive today if it's more conspicuous?"**

**"Hadn't you noticed? I'm breaking all the rules now." **

**He met me at the front of the car, staying very close to my side as we walked onto campus. I wanted to close that little distance, to reach out and touch him, but I was afraid he wouldn't like me to.**

**"Why do you have cars like that at all?" I wondered aloud. "If you're looking for privacy?"**

**"An indulgence," he admitted with an impish smile. "We all like to drive fast."**

**"Figures," I muttered under my breath.**

Bella shook her head and I could feel her amusement and I grinned at her. She understood, now, why we liked to drive fast. When you can run as fast as we can, driving slower than 120 feels unbearably slow to us.

**Under the shelter of the cafeteria roof's overhang, Jessica was waiting, her eyes about to bug out of their sockets. **

**Over her arm, bless her, was my jacket.**

**"Hey, Jessica," I said when we were a few feet away. "Thanks for remembering." She handed me my jacket without speaking.**

**"Good morning, Jessica," Edward said politely. It wasn't really his fault that his voice was so irresistible. Or what his eyes were capable of.**

**"Er… hi." She shifted her wide eyes to me, trying to gather her jumbled thoughts. "I guess I'll see you in Trig." She gave me a meaningful look, and I suppressed a sigh. What on earth was I going to tell her?**

Bella glared at Edward and muttered, "No help." Edward just smirked, making all of us look at them strangely while they rolled their eyes and motioned for me to read. I shook my head in amusement. No doubt we would out soon.

**"Yeah, I'll see you then."**

**She walked away, pausing twice to peek back over her shoulder at us.**

**"What are you going to tell her?" Edward murmured.**

**"Hey, I thought you couldn't read my mind!" I hissed.**

**"I can't," he said, startled. Then understanding brightened his eyes. **

**"However, I can read hers — she'll be waiting to ambush you in class."**

**I groaned as I pulled off his jacket and handed it to him, replacing it with my own. He folded it over his arm.**

**"So what are you going to tell her?"**

**"A little help?" I pleaded. "What does she want to know?"**

**He shook his head, grinning wickedly. "That's not fair."**

Rose frowned at Edward, annoyance flowing from her. Clearly, she didn't appreciate Edward's teasing of her mate.

**"No, you not sharing what you know — now that's not fair."**

**He deliberated for a moment as we walked. We stopped outside the door to my first class.**

**"She wants to know if we're secretly dating. And she wants to know how you feel about me," he finally said.**

**"Yikes. What should I say?" I tried to keep my expression very innocent. People were passing us on their way to class, probably staring, but I was barely aware of them.**

**"Hmmm." He paused to catch a stray lock of hair that was escaping the twist on my neck and wound it back into place. My heart spluttered hyperactively. "I suppose you could say yes to the first… if you don't mind — it's easier than any other explanation."**

Rose, Bella, Edward, and Emmett all frowned at that, making the rest of us bite our tongues to hold back laughter at their semi-disgusted, semi-disturbed expressions. It was a sight to see.

**"I don't mind," I said in a faint voice.**

**"And as for her other question… well, I'll be listening to hear the answer to that one myself." **

**One side of his mouth pulled up into my favorite uneven smile. I couldn't catch my breath soon enough to respond to that remark. He turned and walked away.**

**"I'll see you at lunch," he called over his shoulder. Three people walking in the door stopped to stare at me.**

**I hurried into class, flushed and irritated. He was such a cheater. **

"Got that right," everyone but Edward, Carlisle, and Esme muttered at the same time. Edward scowled at us but our parents were radiating amusement and had their hands suspiciously covering their mouths.

**Now I was even more worried about what I was going to say to Jessica. I sat in my usual seat, slamming my bag down in aggravation.**

**"Morning, Bella," Mike said from the seat next to me. I looked up to see an odd, almost resigned look on his face. "How was Port Angeles?"**

**"It was…" There was no honest way to sum it up. "Great," I finished lamely. "Jessica got a really cute dress."**

**"Did she say anything about Monday night?" he asked, his eyes brightening. I smiled at the turn the conversation had taken.**

**"She said she had a really good time," I assured him.**

**"She did?" he said eagerly.**

**"Most definitely."**

**Mr. Mason called the class to order then, asking us to turn in our papers. English and then Government passed in a blur, while I worried about how to explain things to Jessica and agonized over whether Edward would really be listening to what I said through the medium of Jess's thoughts. **

Edward smirked. "Naturally," he said smugly and Bella scowled at him, her eyes narrowed. I grinned quickly and read on.

**How very inconvenient his little talent could be — when it wasn't saving my life. **_**I pushed away the memory of last night. I didn't even want to think about **_**that.**

**The fog had almost dissolved by the end of the second hour, but the day was still dark with low, oppressing clouds. I smiled up at the sky.**

**Edward was right, of course. When I walked into Trig Jessica was sitting in the back row, nearly bouncing off her seat in agitation. I reluctantly went to sit by her, trying to convince myself it would be better to get it over with as soon as possible.**

**"Tell me everything!" she commanded before I was in the seat.**

**"What do you want to know?" I hedged.**

**"What happened last night?"**

_**I almost grimaced. Of course, that would be the first thing out of her mouth. I paused for a second. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know – and I certainly wasn't about to mention it.**_

**"He bought me dinner, and then he drove me home."**

**She glared at me, her expression stiff with skepticism. "How did you get home so fast?"**

**"He drives like a maniac. It was terrifying." I hoped he heard that.**

We all laughed at her response.

**"Was it like a date — did you tell him to meet you there?"**

**I hadn't thought of that. "No — I was very surprised to see him there."**

**Her lips puckered in disappointment at the transparent honesty in my voice.**

**"But he picked you up for school today?" she probed.**

**"Yes — that was a surprise, too. He noticed I didn't have a jacket last night," I explained.**

**"So are you going out again?"**

**"He offered to drive me to Seattle Saturday because he thinks my truck isn't up to it — does that count?"**

**"Yes." She nodded.**

**"Well, then, yes."**

**"Wow." She exaggerated the word into three syllables. "Edward Cullen."**

**"I know," I agreed. "Wow" didn't even cover it.**

Rose frowned and Bella soothed her instantly. I couldn't help the small smile on my face. They were truly perfect for each other. They complemented each other perfectly and they had each adjusted to fit the other flawlessly.

**"Wait!" Her hands flew up, palms toward me like she was stopping traffic. "Has he kissed you?"**

**"No," I mumbled. "It's not like that."**

**She looked disappointed. I'm sure I did, too.**

**"Do you think Saturday…?"She raised her eyebrows.**

**"I really doubt it." The discontent in my voice was poorly disguised.**

**"What did you talk about?" She pushed for more information in a whisper. Class had started but Mr. Varner wasn't paying close attention and we weren't the only ones still talking.**

**"I don't know, Jess, lots of stuff," I whispered back. "We talked about the English essay a little." A very, very little. I think he mentioned it in passing.**

My mate grinned next to me. "Nicely done, Bella," she complimented our sister, who gave a mocking bow, her eyes sparkling mischievously. I had to chuckle. This was a side that we had never seen of Bella before she was changed – we were all so protective of her when she was human that we forgot to let her have fun and make her own decisions – something that had nearly made us lose her forever.

**"Please, Bella," she begged. **

**"Give me some details."**

**"Well… okay, I've got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him — it was over the top. But he didn't pay any attention to her at all." Let him make what he could of that.**

**"That's a good sign," she nodded. "Was she pretty?"**

All of the guys in the room frowned. "So?" Emmett asked and the girls exchanged smirks.

**"Very — and probably nineteen or twenty."**

"What does that matter?" Edward asked, irritated by his lack of knowledge.

All of the girls grinned, seeming to be on the verge of laughter, but none of them answered.

**"Even better. He must like you."**

Surprisingly, Carlisle was the one to snap. "Please, tell us what it means," he begged Esme and all the girls, including our mother figure, burst into laughter.

I looked at Alice pleadingly and she took pity on me, answering through her chuckles. "Because – guys today – usually – go for – women who are – a couple years – older than them," she giggled along with Bella, Rose, and Esme and all those of the male species in the room exchanged long-suffering looks. I honestly didn't think we'd ever really understand so it was best not to dwell on it.

**"I think so, but it's hard to tell. **

"**He's always so cryptic," I threw in for his benefit, sighing.**

**"I don't know how you're brave enough to be alone with him," she breathed.**

**"Why?" I was shocked, but she didn't understand my reaction.**

**"He's so… intimidating. I wouldn't know what to say to him." She made a face, probably remembering this morning or last night, when he'd turned the overwhelming force of his eyes on her.**

**"I do have some trouble with incoherency when I'm around him," I admitted.**

**"Oh well. He is unbelievably gorgeous." Jessica shrugged as if this excused any flaws.** **Which, in her book, it probably did.**

**"There's a lot more to him than that." Them, **_**my mind corrected instantly. **_**There's more to them than that. **_**Blond hair and violet-blue eyes flashed in my mind before vanishing.**_

Rosalie was stunned and looked at Bella incredulously. "You knew what color my eyes were when I was human?" she asked in awe and Bella shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I didn't know it at the time, but yes. And before you ask Carlisle, I can't explain it. I just knew," she murmured, linking her hand with Rose's.

**"Really? Like what?"**

**I wished I had let it go. Almost as much as I was hoping he'd been kidding about listening in.**

**"I can't explain it right… but he's even more unbelievable behind the face." The vampire who wanted to be good — who ran around saving people's lives so he wouldn't be a monster… I stared toward the front of the room.**

**"Is that possible?" She giggled.**

**I ignored her, trying to look like I was paying attention to Mr. Varner.**

**"So you like him, then?" She wasn't about to give up.**

**"Yes," I said curtly.**

Esme smiled indulgently, pride and love streaming from her. She loved to hear about the parts of our past with Bella that she couldn't experience for herself, I could tell.

**"I mean, do you really like him?" she urged.**

**"Yes," I said again, blushing. I hoped that detail wouldn't register in her thoughts.**

**She'd had enough with the single syllable answers. "How much do you like him?"**

**"Too much," I whispered back. "More than he likes me. But I don't see how I can help that." **

**I sighed, one blush blending into the next.**

**Then, thankfully, Mr. Varner called on Jessica for an answer.**

**She didn't get a chance to start on the subject again during class, and as soon as the bell rang, I took evasive action.**

**"In English, Mike asked me if you said anything about Monday night," I told her.**

Rose grinned. "Very nice," she said, kissing Bella quickly.

**"You're kidding! What did you say?!" she gasped, completely sidetracked.**

**"I told him you said you had a lot of fun — he looked pleased."**

**"Tell me exactly what he said, and your exact answer!"**

**We spent the rest of the walk dissecting sentence structures and most of Spanish on a minute description of Mike's facial expressions. I wouldn't have helped draw it out for as long as I did if I wasn't worried about the subject returning to me.**

**And then the bell rang for lunch. As I jumped up out of my seat, shoving my books roughly in my bag, my uplifted expression must have tipped Jessica off.**

**"You're not sitting with us today, are you?" she guessed.**

**"I don't think so." I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't disappear inconveniently again.**

**But outside the door to our Spanish class, leaning against the wall — looking more like a Greek god than anyone had a right to **— **Edward was waiting for me. Jessica took one look, rolled her eyes, and departed.**

**"See you later, Bella." Her voice was thick with implications. I might have to turn off the ringer on the phone.**

**"Hello." His voice was amused and irritated at the same time. He had been listening, it was obvious.**

**"Hi."**

**I couldn't think of anything else to say, and he didn't speak — biding his time, I presumed — so it was a quiet walk to the cafeteria. Walking with Edward through the crowded lunchtime rush was a lot like my first day here; everyone stared.**

**He led the way into the line, still not speaking, though his eyes returned to my face every few seconds, their expression speculative. It seemed to me that irritation was winning out over amusement as the dominant emotion in his face. I fidgeted nervously with the zipper on my jacket.**

**He stepped up to the counter and filled a tray with food.**

**"What are you doing?" I objected. "You're not getting all that for me?"**

**He shook his head, stepping forward to buy the food.**

**"Half is for me, of course."**

**I raised one eyebrow.**

Esme looked at Edward curiously when all of us 'kids' started snickering. She seemed to realize what happened and had to stifle laughter of her own. She didn't comment, though, and I could feel Edward's gratitude.

**He led the way to the same place we'd sat that one time before. From the other end of the long table, a group of seniors gazed at us in amazement as we sat across from each other. Edward seemed oblivious.**

**"Take whatever you want," he said, pushing the tray toward me.**

**"I'm curious," I said as I picked up an apple, turning it around in my hands, "what would you do if someone dared you to eat food?"**

Both Esme and Carlisle lost the fight against their amusement and began to laugh along with the rest of us. I pulled Alice close to me and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head while enjoying the happiness in the room.

**"You're always curious." He grimaced, shaking his head. He glared at me, holding my eyes as he lifted the slice of pizza off the tray, and deliberately bit off a mouthful, chewed quickly, and then swallowed. I watched, eyes wide.**

Edward shuddered, renewing our amusement.

**"If someone dared you to eat dirt, you could, couldn't you?" he asked condescendingly.**

Esme scowled and Edward apologized before she could scold him, making me smirk at him.

**I wrinkled my nose. "I did once… on a dare," I admitted. "It wasn't so bad."**

**He laughed. "I suppose I'm not surprised." Something over my shoulder seemed to catch his attention.**

**"Jessica's analyzing everything I do — she'll break it down for you later." **

**He pushed the rest of the pizza toward me. The mention of Jessica brought a hint of his former irritation back to his features.**

**I put down the apple and took a bite of the pizza, looking away, knowing he was about to start.**

**"So the waitress was pretty, was she?" he asked casually.**

**"You really didn't notice?"**

**"No. I wasn't paying attention. I had a lot on my mind."**

**"Poor girl." I could afford to be generous now.**

I grinned. Their emotions that day were entertaining, even if I was still wary about the situation.

**"Something you said to Jessica… well, it bothers me." He refused to be distracted. His voice was husky, and he glanced up from under his lashes with troubled eyes.**

**"I'm not surprised you heard something you didn't like. You know what they say about eavesdroppers," I reminded him.**

**"I warned you I would be listening."**

**"And I warned you that you didn't want to know everything I was thinking."**

**"You did," he agreed, but his voice was still rough. "You aren't precisely right, though. I do want to know what you're thinking — everything. I just wish… that you wouldn't be thinking some things."**

Alice rolled her eyes. "Must you be so confusing?" she grumbled and we all agreed. Edward smiled sheepishly.

"I don't think even I quite understand that one," he admitted, making my wife roll her eyes and lean a little more into my side.

**I scowled. "That's quite a distinction."**

**"But that's not really the point at the moment."**

**"Then what is?" We were inclined toward each other across the table now. He had his large white hands folded under his chin; I leaned forward, my right hand cupped around my neck. I had to remind myself that we were in a crowded lunchroom, with probably many curious eyes on us. It was too easy to get wrapped up in our own private, tense little bubble.**

**"Do you truly believe that you care more for me than I do for you?" he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.**

Both Edward and Bella rolled their eyes, smirking. We all looked at them questioningly. "When Bella and I were together, we should have known we weren't mates because that was always what it was like with us," Edward explained.

"Neither of us felt like we deserved the other, so we pushed each other away without realizing it. It was never equal because we both always felt so undeserving of the other," Bella explained, shrugging. I frowned. I could see how that could happen. They really were similar in their insecurities and feelings of unworthiness.

**I tried to remember how to exhale. I had to look away before it came back to me.**

**"You're doing it again," I muttered.**

**His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?"**

**"Dazzling me," I admitted, trying to concentrate as I looked back at him.**

**"Oh." He frowned.**

**"It's not your fault," I sighed. "You can't help it."**

**"Are you going to answer the question?"**

**I looked down. "Yes."**

Rosalie hissed quietly and Bella shushed her, whispering in her ear to calm her. Rose always hated it when Bella belittled herself – more so than the rest of us.

**"Yes, you are going to answer, or yes, you really think that?" He was irritated again.**

**"Yes, I really think that." I kept my eyes down on the table, my eyes tracing the pattern of the faux wood grains printed on the laminate. The silence dragged on. I stubbornly refused to be the first to break it this time, fighting hard against the temptation to peek at his expression.**

**Finally he spoke, voice velvet soft. "You're wrong."**

**I glanced up to see that his eyes were gentle.**

**"You can't know that," I disagreed in a whisper. **

**I shook my head in doubt, though my heart throbbed at his words and I wanted so badly to believe them.**

I saw what they meant now, and I think everyone else did, too.

**"What makes you think so?" His liquid topaz eyes were penetrating — trying futilely, I assumed, to lift the truth straight from my mind.**

**I stared back, struggling to think clearly in spite of his face, to find some way to explain. As I searched for the words, I could see him getting impatient; frustrated by my silence, he started to scowl. I lifted my hand from my neck, and held up one finger.**

**"Let me think," I insisted. His expression cleared, now that he was satisfied that I was planning to answer. I dropped my hand to the table, moving my left hand so that my palms were pressed together. I stared at my hands, twisting and untwisting my fingers, as I finally spoke.**

**"Well, aside from the obvious, sometimes…" I hesitated. "I can't be sure —I don't know how to read minds — but sometimes it seems like you're trying to say goodbye when you're saying something else." **

**That was the best I could sum up the sensation of anguish that his words triggered in me at times. If he leaves, they will leave,**_** my mind whispered and I shuddered internally. That thought was even more excruciating to me and I pushed the pain away automatically. I couldn't handle that.**_

I winced slightly and I knew that we were all thinking the same thing. She did go through that, but she always refused to tell us just how bad it was when we were all gone. But these books held everything. So, we were going to have to read about her pain, experience it with her. And we deserved to do that because it was all our fault.

**"Perceptive," he whispered. And there was the anguish again, surfacing as he confirmed my fear. "That's exactly why you're wrong, though," he began to explain, but then his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'the obvious'?"**

**"Well, look at me," I said, unnecessarily as he was already staring. **

**"I'm absolutely ordinary — well, except for bad things like all the near-death experiences and being so clumsy that I'm almost disabled. And look at you." I waved my hand toward him and all his bewildering perfection.**

**His brow creased angrily for a moment, then smoothed as his eyes took on a knowing look. "You don't see yourself very clearly, you know. I'll admit you're dead-on about the bad things," he chuckled blackly, "but you didn't hear what every human male in this school was thinking on your first day."**

**I blinked, astonished. "I don't believe it…" I mumbled to myself.**

**"Trust me just this once — you are the opposite of ordinary."**

**My embarrassment was much stronger than my pleasure at the look that came into his eyes when he said this. I quickly reminded him of my original argument.**

**"But I'm not saying goodbye," I pointed out.**

**"Don't you see? That's what proves me right. I care the most, because if I can do it" — he shook his head, seeming to struggle with the thought — "if leaving is the right thing to do, then I'll hurt myself to keep from hurting you, to keep you safe."**

Bella shuddered and clung to Rosalie, while Edward looked guilty. My sister looked up suddenly. "Did you learn?" she asked, staring at our brother intensely.

He appeared a little confused and his answer was hesitant. "Yes."

Bella shook her head. "_What _did you learn?"

Edward appeared stumped now, and he didn't have an answer, making Bella sigh.

"Edward, leaving someone doesn't show that you love them; it doesn't make you stronger – it makes you weaker. It shows that you either can't or don't want to face your problems head on. It shows how little you love someone, not how much," she said gently and he looked blown away – I think we all did. Because she was right. And it pained me that we had never seen it that way before because we could have spared her so much unnecessary agony.

**I glared. "And you don't think I would do the same?"**

**"You'd never have to make the choice."**

**Abruptly, his unpredictable mood shifted again; a mischievous, devastating smile rearranged his features. "Of course, keeping you safe is beginning to feel like a full-time occupation that requires my constant presence."**

**"No one has tried to do away with me today," I reminded him, grateful for the lighter subject. **

Everyone but Bella frowned at that. Of course, she would consider her safety to be a lighter subject… I smirked. Only Bella…

**I didn't want him to talk about goodbyes anymore. If I had to, I supposed I could purposefully put myself in danger to keep him close… I banished that thought before his quick eyes read it on my face. That idea would definitely get me in trouble.**

**"Yet," he added.**

**"Yet," I agreed; I would have argued, but now I wanted him to be expecting disasters.**

**"I have another question for you." His face was still casual.**

**"Shoot."**

**"Do you really need to go to Seattle this Saturday, or was that just an excuse to get out of saying no to all your admirers?"**

**I made a face at the memory. "You know, I haven't forgiven you for the Tyler thing yet," I warned him. "It's your fault that he's deluded himself into thinking I'm going to prom with him."**

**"Oh, he would have found a chance to ask you without me — I just really wanted to watch your face," he chuckled, I would have been angrier if his laughter wasn't so fascinating. **

**"If I'd asked you, would you have turned me down?" he asked, still laughing to himself.**

**"Probably not," I admitted. "But I would have canceled later —faked an illness or a sprained ankle."**

**He was puzzled. "Why would you do that?"**

Bella rolled her eyes and Edward looked sheepish.

**I shook my head sadly. "You've never seen me in Gym, I guess, but I would have thought you would understand."**

**"Are you referring to the fact that you can't walk across a flat, stable surface without finding something to trip over?"**

**"Obviously."**

**"That wouldn't be a problem." He was very confident. "It's all in the leading." He could see that I was about to protest, and he cut me off. "But you never told me — are you resolved on going to Seattle, or do you mind if we do something different?"**

**As long as the "we" part was in, I didn't care about anything else.**

**"I'm open to alternatives," I allowed. "But I do have a favor to ask."**

**He looked wary, as he always did when I asked an open-ended question. "What?"**

Bella sighed and glared lightly at Edward, muttering something about 'know-it-all, annoying vampires' under her breath, making everyone but said annoying vampire grin.

**"Can I drive?"**

**He frowned. "Why?"**

**"Well, mostly because when I told Charlie I was going to Seattle, he specifically asked if I was going alone and, at the time, I was. If he asked again, I probably wouldn't lie, but I don't think he will ask again, and leaving my truck at home would just bring up the subject unnecessarily. And also, because your driving frightens me."**

**He rolled his eyes. "Of all the things about me that could frighten you, you worry about my driving." He shook his head in disgust, but then his eyes were serious again. "Won't you want to tell your father that you're spending the day with me?" There was an undercurrent to his question that I didn't understand.**

**"With Charlie, less is always more." I was definite about that. "Where are we going, anyway?"**

**"The weather will be nice, so I'll be staying out of the public eye… and you can stay with me, if you'd like to." Again, he was leaving the choice up to me.**

I frowned and shook my head. He left all the decisions up to her – as long as they were meaningless and held no true weight. And that was why they weren't mates, or at least a portion of it.

**"And you'll show me what you meant, about the sun?" I asked, excited by the idea of unraveling another of the unknowns.**

Esme smiled fondly at her youngest daughter and her mate. "She really was meant to be your daughter, you know," she teased, making both Bella and Carlisle grin sheepishly at her comment. But it was true – the two of them were incredibly inquisitive and they loved to unravel the unknown.

**"Yes." He smiled, and then paused. "But if you don't want to be… alone with me, I'd still rather you didn't go to Seattle by yourself. I shudder to think of the trouble you could find in a city that size."**

**I was miffed. "Phoenix is three times bigger than Seattle — just in population. In physical size —"**

**"But apparently," he interrupted me, "your number wasn't up in Phoenix. So I'd rather you stayed near me." His eyes did that unfair smoldering thing again.**

**I couldn't argue, with the eyes or the motivation, and it was a moot point anyway. "As it happens, I don't mind being alone with you."**

**"I know," he sighed, brooding. "You should tell Charlie, though."**

**"Why in the world would I do that?"**

**His eyes were suddenly fierce. "To give me some small incentive to bring you back."**

Rosalie growled quietly and pulled Bella into her lap but didn't speak. I thought of someone saying that about my Alice and had to clench my jaw to hold in a growl of my own, squeezing her to me a little tighter.

**I gulped. But, after a moment of thought, I was sure. "I think I'll take my chances."**

**He exhaled angrily, and looked away.**

**"Let's talk about something else," I suggested.**

**"What do you want to talk about?" he asked. He was still annoyed.**

**I glanced around us, making sure we were well out of anyone's hearing. As I cast my eyes around the room, I caught the eyes of his sister, Alice, staring at me. The others were looking at Edward. I looked away swiftly, back to him, and I asked the first thing that came to mind.**

Alice pouted and Bella smiled lovingly. "I'm sorry, Alice. I just hadn't met you yet – I didn't know that you were going to be my best friend and sister," she explained and Alice grinned, making me smile from the happiness and love that she exuded.

**"Why did you go to that Goat Rocks place last weekend… to hunt? Charlie said it wasn't a good place to hike, because of bears."**

**He stared at me as if I was missing something very obvious.**

**"Bears?" I gasped, and he smirked. "You know, bears are not in season," I added sternly, to hide my shock.**

**"If you read carefully, the laws only cover hunting with weapons," he informed me.**

**He watched my face with enjoyment as that slowly sank in.**

**"Bears?" I repeated with difficulty.**

**"Grizzly is Emmett's favorite." His voice was still offhand, but his eyes were scrutinizing my reaction. I tried to pull myself together.**

**"Hmmm," I said, taking another bite of pizza as an excuse to look down. I chewed slowly, and then took a long drink of Coke without looking up.**

**"So," I said after a moment, finally meeting his now-anxious gaze. "What's your favorite?"**

**He raised an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth turned down in disapproval.**

**"Mountain lion."**

Edward grinned, licking his lips quickly. I shook my head in amusement. Personally, I preferred a nice fox but, to each his own…

**"Ah," I said in a politely disinterested tone, looking for my soda again.**

**"Of course," he said, and his tone mirrored mine, "we have to be careful not to impact the environment with injudicious hunting. We try to focus on areas with an overpopulation of predators — ranging as far away as we need. There's always plenty of deer and elk here, and they'll do, but where's the fun in that?"**

**He smiled teasingly.**

**"Where indeed," I murmured around another bite of pizza.**

**"Early spring is Emmett's favorite bear season — they're just coming out of hibernation, so they're more irritable." He smiled at some remembered joke.**

Emmett grinned widely. "Hell yeah!" he boomed and Esme scowled at him but let it slide this time.

**"Nothing more fun than an irritated grizzly bear," I agreed, nodding.**

"Bella I love you!" Emmett yelled laughing and everyone joined in.

**He snickered, shaking his head. "Tell me what you're really thinking, please."**

**"I'm trying to picture it — but I can't," I admitted. "How do you hunt a bear without weapons?"**

**"Oh, we have weapons." He flashed his bright teeth in a brief, threatening smile. I fought back a shiver before it could expose me. "Just not the kind they consider when writing hunting laws. If you've ever seen a bear attack on television, you should be able to visualize Emmett hunting."**

**I couldn't stop the next shiver that flashed down my spine. **

Emmett scowled. "You could have made her afraid of me," he accused his mate and Edward apologized.

Bella grinned. "It's okay, Em. I could never be afraid of my big brother bear," she teased and Emmett grinned widely, loping over to hug our little sister tightly before returning to his seat happily.

**I peeked across the cafeteria toward Emmett, grateful that he wasn't looking my way. The thick bands of muscle that wrapped his arms and torso were somehow even more menacing now.**

**Edward followed my gaze and chuckled. I stared at him, unnerved.**

**"Are you like a bear, too?" I asked in a low voice.**

**"More like the lion, or so they tell me," he said lightly. "Perhaps our preferences are indicative."**

I raised one eyebrow. It was an interesting thought…

**I tried to smile. "Perhaps," I repeated. But my mind was filled with opposing images that I couldn't merge together. "Is that something I might get to see?"**

**"Absolutely not!" His face turned even whiter than usual, and his eyes were suddenly furious. I leaned back, stunned and — though I'd never admit it to him — frightened by his reaction. He leaned back as well, folding his arms across his chest.**

**"Too scary for me?" I asked when I could control my voice again.**

**"If that were it, I would take you out tonight," he said, his voice cutting. "You need a healthy dose of fear. Nothing could be more beneficial for you."**

**"Then why?" I pressed, trying to ignore his angry expression.**

**He glared at me for a long minute.**

**"Later," he finally said. He was on his feet in one lithe movement. "We're going to be late."**

**I glanced around, startled to see that he was right and the cafeteria was nearly vacant.**

**When I was with him, the time and the place were such a muddled blur that I completely lost track of both. I jumped up, grabbing my bag from the back of my chair.**

**"Later, then," I agreed. I wouldn't forget.**

Edward snorted. "Of course not," he muttered and we laughed at him. I tossed the book to Carlisle.

"That was the end of the chapter," I announced, pulling my little pixie closer to me as we shared a soft kiss. I sighed contently. Alice's emotions were always so soothing to me. She radiated love and happiness in my presence, giving me some much-needed stability although I freely admit that her tendency towards over-excitement was challenging at times. But I wouldn't change a single thing because I 'lived' for it all. I lived for her.

We shared a loving look and settled in to listen to Carlisle.


	13. Complications

**Chapter Thirteen: Complications**

Carlisle

I took the book and glanced down at the page. Bella was truly a genius for writing this down. Our family was close – we had to be, we had no one else really to talk to – but I got the feeling that this would help us become even closer. My daughter saw through the pretenses and understood people. Who knows? This may even help us better understand ourselves…

**Complications**

**Everyone watched us as we walked together to our lab table. **

**I noticed that he no longer angled the chair to sit as far from me as the desk would allow. Instead, he sat quite close beside me, our arms almost touching.**

**Mr. Banner backed into the room then - what superb timing the man had - pulling a tall metal frame on wheels that held a heavy-looking, outdated TV and VCR. A movie day - the lift in the class atmosphere was almost tangible.**

Everyone but Esme and I rolled their eyes; I guessed this must happen a lot. My mate and I shared a loving smile at our children's antics.

**Mr. Banner shoved the tape into the reluctant VCR and walked to the wall to turn off the lights.**

**And then, as the room went black, I was suddenly hyperaware that Edward was sitting less than an inch from me. **

**I was stunned by the unexpected electricity that flowed through me, amazed that it was possible to be **_**more **_**aware of him than I already was. A crazy impulse to reach over and touch him, to stroke his perfect face just once in the darkness, nearly overwhelmed me. I crossed my arms tightly across my chest, my hands balling into fists. I was losing my mind.**

I was curious. This was very much like the way we feel with our mates, just not quite as strong. Perhaps it was because Bella was Edward's singer? I mused but didn't comment on my thoughts.

**The opening credits began, lighting the room by a token amount. My eyes, of their own accord, flickered to him. I smiled sheepishly as I realized his posture was identical to mine, fists clenched under his arms, right down to the eyes, peering sideways at me. **

**He grinned back, his eyes somehow managing to smolder, even in the dark. I looked away before I could start hyperventilating. It was absolutely ridiculous that I should feel dizzy.**

I frowned in concern. It was a somewhat new feeling that I had needed to get used to after Bella's entrance into our lives. My other kids had all been vampires since the time I met them and turned them (with Alice and Jasper being the exception to my turning them, that is). Bella, on the other hand, was human – and an exceptionally clumsy human, at that – and I had to get used to worrying about her physical well-being in a way that my other children didn't need to worry about. Truly, it made me love her a little sooner than I may have otherwise because Esme and I could truly act as parents to her in a way that the others never needed.

**The hour seemed very long. I couldn't concentrate on the movie - I didn't even know what subject it was on. I tried unsuccessfully to relax, but the electric current that seemed to be originating from somewhere in his body never slackened. Occasionally I would permit myself a quick glance in his direction, but he never seemed to relax, either. The overpowering craving to touch him also refused to fade, and I crushed my fists safely against my ribs until my fingers were aching with the effort.**

**I breathed a sigh of relief when Mr. Banner flicked the lights back on at the end of class, and stretched my arms out in front of me, flexing my stiff fingers. Edward chuckled beside me.**

Alice rolled her eyes. "Jerk," she muttered and I felt my lips twitch. I got the feeling Edward would be hearing that a lot through these books (autobiographies?) and I couldn't say he didn't deserve it.

**"Well, that was interesting," he murmured. His voice was dark and his eyes were cautious.**

**"Umm," was all I was able to respond.**

**"Shall we?" he asked, rising fluidly.**

**I almost groaned. Time for Gym. **

Emmett pouted. "I wanted to see you in Gym, but no one would let me switch into your class!" he complained and Bella raised one eyebrow.

"In that case, I just want to take the time to sincerely thank everyone here from the bottom of my heart," she deadpanned.

**I stood with care, worried my balance might have been affected by the strange new intensity between us.**

**He walked me to my next class in silence and paused at the door; I turned to say goodbye. His face startled me - his expression was torn, almost pained, and so fiercely beautiful that the ache to touch him flared as strong as before. My goodbye stuck in my throat.**

**He raised his hand, hesitant, conflict raging in his eyes, and then swiftly brushed the length of my cheekbone with his fingertips. His skin was as icy as ever, but the trail his fingers left on my skin was alarmingly warm - like I'd been burned, but didn't feel the pain of it yet.**

My mind was still working to determine whether Bella being Edward's singer had caused this reaction in the both of them, even as I read. As things stood, it seemed possible, perhaps even probable.

**He turned without a word and strode quickly away from me.**

**I walked into the gym, lightheaded and wobbly.**

**I drifted to the locker room, changing in a trancelike state, only vaguely aware that there were other people surrounding me. Reality didn't fully set in until I was handed a racket. **

**It wasn't heavy, yet it felt very unsafe in my hand. I could see a few of the other kids in class eyeing me furtively. Coach Clapp ordered us to pair up into teams.**

**Mercifully, some vestiges of Mike's chivalry still survived; he came to stand beside me.**

"Chivalry?" The kids, all but Bella, scoffed the word. I had to clear my throat to hold back my laughter. They were more in-tune than perhaps even they realized.

**"Do you want to be a team?"**

**"Thanks, Mike - you don't have to do this, you know." I grimaced apologetically.**

I smiled. My selfless daughter.

**"Don't worry, I'll keep out of your way." He grinned. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mike.**

**It didn't go smoothly. **

**I somehow managed to hit myself in the head with my racket and clip Mike's shoulder on the same swing. **

I couldn't restrain myself this time and we all burst out into laughter at that. After several moments, we calmed ourselves and I continued reading. As a doctor, I really shouldn't have laughed but I knew for a fact that the boy was fine and, well, a little bump on the shoulder never hurt anyone; I didn't like the way that he acted with my youngest daughter.

**I spent the rest of the hour in the back corner of the court, the racket held safely behind my back. Despite being handicapped by me, Mike was pretty good; he won three games out of four singlehandedly. He gave me an unearned high five when the coach finally blew the whistle ending class.**

**"So," he said as we walked off the court.**

**"So what?"**

**"You and Cullen, huh?" he asked, his tone rebellious. My previous feeling of affection disappeared.**

**"That's none of your business, Mike," I warned, internally cursing Jessica straight to the fiery pits of Hades.**

Jasper smirked. "I wasn't even anywhere nearby and I could feel your anger that day," he commented wryly and Bella laughed lightly.

**"I don't like it," he muttered anyway.**

**"You don't have to," I snapped.**

**"He looks at you like… like you're something to eat," he continued, ignoring me.**

Bella chuckled at that while Edward rolled his eyes. I had to admit, the irony was a bit funny.

**I choked back the hysteria that threatened to explode, but a small giggle managed to **_**get **_**out despite my efforts. He glowered at me. **

**I waved and fled to the locker room.**

**I dressed quickly, something stronger than butterflies battering recklessly against the walls of my stomach, my argument with Mike already a distant memory. **

**I was wondering if Edward would be waiting, or if I should meet him at his car. What if his family was there? I felt a wave of real terror. **_**And, oddly, excitement. I wanted them to be there. Colors flashed in my mind: Gold, Blue, Black, White, Blond. I frowned slightly, and shook it off. Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought?**_

A smile tugged at my lips. Not many parents can say that they genuinely know what it was like for their child to fall in love, but I was privileged enough to be receiving that gift right now and I wasn't about to take it for granted.

**Did they know that I knew? Was I supposed to know that they knew that I knew, or not?**

**By the time I walked out of the gym, I had just about decided to walk straight home without even looking toward the parking lot. **

**But my worries were unnecessary. Edward was waiting, leaning casually against the side of the gym, his breathtaking face untroubled now. As I walked to his side, I felt a peculiar sense of release**_**, but something was still missing. Still, it was infinitely better than the loss I felt before.**_

My curiosity flared. Perhaps her subconscious was seeking a substitution for her mate until they finally came together? I could hear the others speaking quietly at the moment but I was too caught up all the possibilities of this that I hardly noticed.

**"Hi," I breathed, smiling hugely.**

**"Hello." His answering smile was brilliant. "How was Gym?"**

Edward chuckled until Bella glared at him and he gulped, making my daughter smirk.

**My face fell a tiny bit. "Fine," I lied.**

**"Really?" He was unconvinced. **

**His eyes shifted their focus slightly, looking over my shoulder and narrowing. I glanced behind me to see Mike's back as he walked away.**

**"What?" I demanded.**

**His eyes slid back to mine, still tight. "Newton's getting on my nerves."**

**"You weren't listening again?" I was horror-struck. All traces of my sudden good humor vanished.**

"Idiot," Rose muttered, rolling her eyes. I had to admit, it was unsettling.

Esme scowled at our son. "Edward! That was presumptuous of you! I understand that you can't control what you hear all the time," she said before continuing in a warning tone. "However, you will not abuse your gift just for your own gratification at the expense of others privacy." Edward nodded and my mate turned to Alice and Jasper. "That means the two of you, as well," she added and they nodded. She really couldn't say anything to Bella because Bella's gift was defensive and did nothing to invade the privacy of others – actually it _protected _others privacy.

**"How's your head?" he asked innocently.**

**"You're unbelievable!" I turned, stomping away in the general direction of the parking lot, though I hadn't ruled out walking at this point.**

**He kept up with me easily.**

**"You were the one who mentioned how I'd never seen you in Gym - it made me curious." He didn't sound repentant, so I ignored him.**

**We walked in silence - a furious, embarrassed silence on my part - to his car. But I had to stop a few steps away - a crowd of people, all boys, were surrounding it.**

**Then I realized they weren't surrounding the Volvo, they were actually circled around Rosalie's red convertible, unmistakable lust in their eyes. **

Rosalie grinned. She loved her cars and she was truly an extremely skilled mechanic and I knew it was something that she was genuinely proud of. We relied on her to keep all of our vehicles in pristine condition and she loved every minute of it, which pleased me greatly.

**None of them even looked up as Edward slid between them to open his door. I climbed quickly in the passenger side, also unnoticed.**

**"Ostentatious," he muttered.**

**"What kind of car is that?" I asked.**

**"An M3."**

**"I don't speak **_**Car and Driver**_**."**

Rose grimaced and Bella just grinned.

**"It's a BMW." He rolled his eyes, not looking at me, trying to back out without running over the car enthusiasts.**

**I nodded - I'd heard of that one.**

Rosalie snorted.

**"Are you still angry?" he asked as he carefully maneuvered his way out.**

**"Definitely."**

**He sighed. "Will you forgive me if I apologize?"**

**"Maybe… if you mean it. **_**And **_**if you promise not to do it again," I insisted.**

**His eyes were suddenly shrewd. "How about if I mean it, **_**and **_**I agree to let you drive Saturday?" he countered my conditions.**

**I considered, and decided it was probably the best offer I would get. "Deal," I agreed.**

**"Then I'm very sorry I upset you." His eyes burned with sincerity for a protracted moment - playing havoc with the rhythm of my heart - and then turned playful. "And I'll be on your doorstep bright and early Saturday morning."**

**"Um, it doesn't help with the Charlie situation if an unexplained Volvo is left in the driveway."**

**His smile was condescending now. "I wasn't intending to bring a car."**

Esme hissed quietly and Edward apologized immediately. I just shook my head in dismayed amusement. Had I truly been so indulgent with him? I frowned slightly. I, too, had not moved forward with the times quite as well as I thought. In both Edward's time and mine the men were seen as being superior to women, and I knew it was untrue but it bred arrogance and Edward, being an immortal teenager, suffered greatly for that. I would speak with him some time in the future about it.

**"How -"**

**He cut me off. "Don't worry about it. I'll be there, no car."**

**I let it go. I had a more pressing question.**

**"Is it later yet?" I asked significantly.**

"You thought she would forget it, didn't you?" Emmett laughed.

Edward scowled. "I hoped so, but didn't really think it would happen."

**He frowned. "I supposed it is later."**

**I kept my expression polite as I waited.**

**He stopped the car. I looked up, surprised - of course we were already at Charlie's house, parked behind the truck. It was easier to ride with him if I only looked when it was over. When I looked back at him, he was staring at me, measuring with his eyes.**

**"And you still want to know why you can't see me hunt?" He seemed solemn, but I thought I saw a trace of humor deep in his eyes.**

**"Well," I clarified, "I was mostly wondering about your reaction."**

**"Did I frighten you?" Yes, there was definitely humor there.**

**"No," I lied. He didn't buy it.**

Bella rolled her eyes. "I really was a terrible liar as a human," she sighed in mock-disappoint, earning a few chuckles from our family.

**"I apologize for scaring you," he persisted with a slight smile, but then all evidence of teasing disappeared.**

**"It was just the very thought of you being there… while we hunted." His jaw tightened.**

**"That would be bad?"**

**He spoke from between clenched teeth. "Extremely."**

**"Because… ?"**

**He took a deep breath and stared through the windshield at the thick, rolling clouds that seemed to press down, almost within reach.**

**"When we hunt," he spoke slowly, unwillingly, "we give ourselves over to our senses… govern less with our minds. Especially our sense of smell. If you were anywhere near me when I lost control that way…"**

**He shook his head, still gazing morosely at the heavy clouds.**

**I kept my expression firmly under control, expecting the swift flash of his eyes to judge my reaction that soon followed. My face gave nothing away.**

I had to grin at Edward's frustrated look. It irritated him beyond belief to be unable to know something thanks to his gift – it really had done nothing but augment his arrogance. I loved him and he was my son, but he needed to be taught humility before he could reach the point he was at today – and he still had quite a ways to go with that whole process.

**But our eyes held, and the silence deepened - and changed. **

**Flickers of the electricity I'd felt this afternoon began to charge the atmosphere as he gazed unrelentingly into my eyes. **

**It wasn't until my head started to swim that I realized I wasn't breathing. **

I scowled a little before relaxing into a small smile. She was a vampire now and could go without breathing indefinitely and without any harm whatsoever.

**When I drew in a jagged breath, breaking the stillness, he closed his eyes.**

**"Bella, I think you should go inside now." His low voice was rough, his eyes on the clouds again.**

**I opened the door, and the arctic draft that burst into the car helped clear my head. Afraid I might stumble in my woozy state, I stepped carefully out of the car and shut the door behind me without looking back. The whir of the automatic window unrolling made me turn.**

**"Oh, Bella?" he called after me, his voice more even. He leaned toward the open window with a faint smile on his lips.**

**"Yes?"**

**"Tomorrow it's my turn."**

**"Your turn to what?"**

**He smiled wider, flashing his gleaming teeth. "Ask the questions."**

All the kids rolled their eyes at their brother. Jasper grinned widely, all of a sudden. "Bella, would you do me a favor?" he asked and Bella cocked her head but nodded.

"What do you need, Jazz?" she asked curiously and Jasper smirked.

"I wondered if you wouldn't mind blocking all of our minds instead of just Rose's. Maybe we can wean our dear brother off of his dependence on his gift," he chuckled and Bella's face broke out into a wide smile while Edward looked horror-stricken.

"No, Bella!" he cried but Bella just shook her head. Edward pouted, his eyes irritated and a little panicked before he calmed slightly.

I didn't say anything but I thought that my son had the right idea here. Edward needed to learn to get along without his gift.

**And then he was gone, the car speeding down the street and disappearing around the corner before I could even collect my thoughts. **

**I smiled as I walked to the house. It was clear he was planning to see me tomorrow, if nothing else.**

**That night Edward starred in my dreams, as usual. **

**However, the climate of my unconsciousness had changed. It thrilled with the same electricity that had charged the afternoon, and I tossed and turned restlessly, waking often. It was only in the early hours of the morning that I finally sank into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.**

**When I woke I was still tired, but edgy as well. I pulled on my brown turtleneck and the inescapable jeans, sighing as I daydreamed of spaghetti straps and shorts. **

Bella smirked. "Now I can wear them in Antarctica if I want to," she said dryly.

**Breakfast was the usual, quiet event I expected. Charlie fried eggs for himself; I had my bowl of cereal. I wondered if he had forgotten about this Saturday. He answered my unspoken question as he stood up to take his plate to the sink.**

**"About this Saturday…" he began, walking across the kitchen and turning on the faucet.**

**I cringed. "Yes, Dad?"**

**"Are you still set on going to Seattle?" he asked.**

**"That was the plan." I grimaced, wishing he hadn't brought it up so I wouldn't have to compose careful half-truths.**

**He squeezed some dish soap onto his plate and swirled it around with the brush. "And you're sure you can't make it back in time for the dance?"**

All the girls grimaced at that but shook their heads at my questioning glance.

**"I'm not going to the dance, Dad." I glared.**

**"Didn't anyone ask you?" he asked, trying to hide his concern by focusing on rinsing the plate.**

**I sidestepped the minefield. "It's a girl's choice."**

"Nice one, Bella," Alice said happily.

**"Oh." He frowned as he dried his plate.**

**I sympathized with him. It must be a hard thing, to be a father; living in fear that your daughter would meet a boy she liked, but also having to worry if she didn't. How ghastly it would be, I thought, shuddering, if Charlie had even the slightest inkling of exactly what I **_**did **_**like.**

Emmett snickered at the thought but I smiled. "Fortunately for me, I have the honor of knowing that each of my children is completely in love and our family will endure through the ravages of time," I said contently and squeezed Esme's hand in my own.

**Charlie left then, with a goodbye wave, and I went upstairs to brush my teeth and gather my books. When I heard the cruiser pull away, I could only wait a few seconds before I had to peek out of my window. **

**The silver car was already there, waiting in Charlie's spot on the driveway.**

**I bounded down the stairs and out the front door, wondering how long this bizarre routine would continue. I never wanted it to end.**

**He waited in the car, not appearing to watch as I shut the door behind me without bothering to lock the dead-bolt. I walked to the car, pausing shyly before opening the door and stepping in. He was smiling, relaxed - and, as usual, perfect and beautiful to an excruciating degree.**

**"Good morning." His voice was silky. "How are you today?" His eyes roamed over my face, as if his question was something more than simple courtesy.**

Bella scowled at him. "Little did I know he was sneaking in my room every night to watch me sleep," she grimaced and I frowned. It did sound bad. In fact, it was against the law. Yes, we broke laws much of the time, but never in a way such as this…

**"Good, thank you." I was always good - much more than good - when I was near him**_**, even better at school with him.**_

**His gaze lingered on the circles under my eyes. "You look tired."**

**"I couldn't sleep," I confessed, automatically swinging my hair around my shoulder to provide some measure of cover.**

**"Neither could I," he teased as he started the engine. **

Emmett boomed a laugh and shook his head. "Yes, we're suffering from insomnia, I'm afraid," he deadpanned and I grinned at my playful son.

**I was becoming used to the quiet purr. I was sure the roar of my truck would scare me, whenever I got to drive it again.**

**I laughed. "I guess that's right. I suppose I slept just a little bit more than you did."**

**"I'd wager you did."**

**"So what did you do last night?" I asked.**

**He chuckled. "Not a chance. It's my day to ask questions."**

**"Oh, that's right. What do you want to know?" My forehead creased. I couldn't imagine anything about me that could be in any way interesting to him.**

**"What's your favorite color?" he asked, his face grave.**

Jasper snorted. "Jeez, Edward. You make it sound like you're asking for a murder confession, for crying out loud."

**I rolled my eyes. "It changes from day to day."**

**"What's your favorite color today?" He was still solemn.**

**"Probably brown." I tended to dress according to my mood.**

**He snorted, dropping his serious expression. "Brown?" he asked skeptically.**

**"Sure. Brown is warm. I **_**miss **_**brown. Everything that's supposed to be brown - tree trunks, rocks, dirt - is all covered up with squashy green stuff here," I complained.**

**He seemed fascinated by my little rant. He considered for a moment, staring into my eyes.**

**"You're right," he decided, serious again. "Brown is warm." **

**He reached over, swiftly, but somehow still hesitantly, to sweep my hair back behind my shoulder.**

**We were at the school by now. He turned back to me as he pulled into a parking space.**

**"What music is in your CD player right now?" he asked, his face as somber as if he'd asked for a murder confession.**

Jasper laughed once. "See? Even Bella thought so back then," he pointed out and Edward rolled his eyes, refusing to respond. I chuckled under my breath. Oh, my boys…

**I realized I'd never removed the CD Phil had given me. When I said the name of the band, he smiled crookedly, a peculiar expression in his eyes. He flipped open a compartment under his car's CD player, pulled out one of thirty or so CDs that were jammed into the small space, and handed it to me, **

**"Debussy to this?" He raised an eyebrow.**

**It was the same CD. I examined the familiar cover art, keeping my eyes down.**

**It continued like that for the rest of the day. While he walked me to English, when he met me after Spanish, all through the lunch hour, he questioned me relentlessly about every insignificant detail of my existence. Movies I'd liked and hated, the few places I'd been and the many places I wanted to go, and books - endlessly books.**

**I couldn't remember the last time I'd talked so much. More often than not, I felt self-conscious, certain I must be boring him. **

**But the absolute absorption of his face, and his never-ending stream of questions, compelled me to continue. **

**Mostly his questions were easy, only a very few triggering my easy blushes. But when I did flush, it brought on a whole new round of questions.**

**Such as the time he asked my favorite gemstone, and I blurted out topaz before thinking. **

**He'd been flinging questions at me with such speed that I felt like I was taking one of those psychiatric tests where you answer with the first word that comes to mind.**

**I was sure he would have continued down whatever mental list he was following, except for the blush. My face reddened because, until very recently, my favorite gemstone was garnet. **

**It was impossible, while staring back into his topaz eyes, not to remember the reason for the switch. **

**And, naturally, he wouldn't rest until I'd admitted why I was embarrassed.**

**"Tell me," he finally commanded after persuasion failed - failed only because I kept my eyes safely away from his face.**

Esme scowled but didn't say anything about Edward's lack of manners.

**"It's the color of your eyes today," I sighed, surrendering, staring down at my hands as I fiddled with a piece of my hair. "I suppose if you asked me in two weeks I'd say onyx." **

**I'd given more information than necessary in my unwilling honesty, and I worried it would provoke the strange anger that flared whenever I slipped and revealed too clearly how obsessed I was.**

**But his pause was very short.**

**"What kinds of flowers do you prefer?" he fired off.**

**I sighed in relief, and continued with the psychoanalysis.**

Edward rolled his eyes, while the others chuckled quietly. I had to admit, that really was what it sounded like was happening.

**Biology was a complication again. Edward had continued with his quizzing up until Mr. Banner entered the room, dragging the audiovisual frame again. **

**As the teacher approached the light switch, I noticed Edward slide his chair slightly farther away from mine. **

**It didn't help. As soon as the room was dark, there was the same electric spark, the same restless craving to stretch my hand across the short space and touch his cold skin, as yesterday.**

**I leaned forward on the table, resting my chin on my folded arms, my hidden fingers gripping the table's edge as I fought to ignore the irrational longing that unsettled me. I didn't look at him, afraid that if he was looking at me, it would only make self-control that much harder. **

**I sincerely tried to watch the movie, but at the end of the hour I had no idea what I'd just seen. I sighed in relief again when Mr. Banner turned the lights on, finally glancing at Edward; he was looking at me, his eyes ambivalent.**

It really was just a little odd to be reading about Edward and Bella's relationship when Bella and Rose, and Edward and Emmett, so clearly belonged together. But I knew it couldn't be too long before we got there.

**He rose in silence and then stood still, waiting for me. We walked toward the gym in silence, like yesterday. And, also like yesterday, he touched my face wordlessly - this time with the back of his cool hand, stroking once from my temple to my jaw - before he turned and walked away.**

**Gym passed quickly as I watched Mike's one-man badminton show. **

**He didn't speak to me today, either in response to my vacant expression or because he was still angry about our squabble yesterday. **

**Somewhere, in a corner of my mind, I felt bad about that. **

**But I couldn't concentrate on him.**

**I hurried to change afterward, ill at ease, knowing the faster I moved, the sooner I would be with Edward. **

**The pressure made me more clumsy than usual, but eventually I made it out the door, feeling the same release when I saw him standing there, a wide smile automatically spreading across my face. He smiled in reaction before launching into more cross-examination.**

**His questions were different now, though, not as easily answered. He wanted to know what I missed about home, insisting on descriptions of anything he wasn't familiar with. We sat in front of Charlie's house for hours, as the sky darkened and rain plummeted around us in a sudden deluge.**

**I tried to describe impossible things like the scent of creosote - bitter, slightly resinous, but still pleasant - the high, keening sound of the cicadas in July, the feathery barrenness of the trees, the very size of the sky, extending white-blue from horizon to horizon, barely interrupted by the low mountains covered with purple volcanic rock.**

Incredible, I mused. We never spent any time permanently in the south due to the issue of the sun, but it sounded beautiful – very rugged and natural, majestic.

**The hardest thing to explain was why it was so beautiful to me - to justify a beauty that didn't depend on the sparse, spiny vegetation that often looked half dead, a beauty that had more to do with the exposed shape of the land, with the shallow bowls of valleys between the craggy hills, and the way they held on to the sun. I found myself using my hands as I tried to describe it to him.**

**His quiet, probing questions kept me talking freely, forgetting, in the dim light of the storm, to be embarrassed for monopolizing the conversation.**

**Finally, when I had finished detailing my cluttered room at home, he paused instead of responding with another question.**

**"Are you finished?" I asked in relief.**

**"Not even close - but your father will be home soon."**

**"Charlie!" I suddenly recalled his existence, and sighed. **

I had to chuckle at that. "I hope you don't so easily forget my presence, young lady," I asked, feigning a stern fatherly tone.

Bella grinned widely before blurring over to me and kissing my cheek quickly. "Never, Dad," she promised and I beamed. I loved it when my kids called me Dad, and Bella, knowing this, made an effort to call both Esme and I by the familiar parental terms of endearment at least once a day.

**I looked out at the rain-darkened sky, but it gave nothing away. "How late is it?" I wondered out loud as I glanced at the clock. I was surprised by the time - Charlie would be driving home now.**

**"It's twilight," Edward murmured, looking at the western horizon, obscured as it was with clouds. His voice was thoughtful, as if his mind were somewhere far away. I stared at him as he gazed unseeingly out the windshield.**

**I was still staring when his eyes suddenly shifted back to mine.**

**"It's the safest time of day for us," he said, answering the unspoken question in my eyes. "The easiest time. But also the saddest, in a way… the end of another day, the return of the night. Darkness is so predictable, don't you think?" He smiled wistfully.**

**"I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars." I frowned. "Not that you see them here much."**

Hmm… It was very true. Perhaps we all needed to be reminded of that once in a while. I smiled.

**He laughed, and the mood abruptly lightened.**

**"Charlie will be here in a few minutes. So, unless you want to tell him that you'll be with me Saturday…"**

**He raised one eyebrow.**

**"Thanks, but no thanks." I gathered my books, realizing I was stiff from sitting still so long. "So is it my turn tomorrow, then?"**

**"Certainly not!" His face was teasingly outraged. "I told you I wasn't done, didn't I?"**

**"What more is there?"**

**"You'll find out tomorrow." He reached across to open my door for me, and his sudden proximity sent my heart into frenzied palpitations.**

**But his hand froze on the handle.**

**"Not good," he muttered.**

**"What is it?" I was surprised to see that his jaw was clenched, his eyes disturbed.**

**He glanced at me for a brief second. "Another complication," he said glumly.**

**He flung the door open in one swift movement, and then moved, almost cringed, swiftly away from me.**

I frowned slightly, thinking back before nodding. Ah. Edward had mentioned Bella's guests – the Blacks.

**The flash of headlights through the rain caught my attention as a dark car pulled up to the curb just a few feet away, facing us.**

**"Charlie's around the corner," he warned, staring through the downpour at the other vehicle.**

**I hopped out at once, despite my confusion and curiosity. The rain was louder as it glanced off my jacket.**

**I tried to make out the shapes in the front seat of the other car, but it was too dark.**

**I could see Edward illuminated in the glare of the new car's headlights; he was still staring ahead, his gaze locked on something or someone I couldn't see. His expression was a strange mix of frustration and defiance.**

**Then he revved the engine, and the tires squealed against the wet pavement. The Volvo was out of sight in seconds.**

**"Hey, Bella," called a familiar, husky voice from the driver's side of the little black car.**

I grimaced a bit. It always made me just a little uncomfortable knowing just how enamored Jacob was of Bella.

**"Jacob?" I asked, squinting through the rain. Just then, Charlie's cruiser swung around the corner, his lights shining on the occupants of the car in front of me.**

**Jacob was already climbing out, his wide grin visible even through the darkness.**

**In the passenger seat was a much older man, a heavyset man with a memorable face - a face that overflowed, the cheeks resting against his shoulders, with creases running through the russet skin like an old leather jacket. And the surprisingly familiar eyes, black eyes that seemed at the same time both too young and too ancient for**

**the broad face they were set in. Jacob's father, Billy Black. I knew him immediately, though in the more than five years since I'd seen him last I'd managed to forget his name when Charlie had spoken of him my first day here. He was staring at me, scrutinizing my face, so I smiled tentatively at him. His eyes were wide, as if in shock or fear, his nostrils flared. My smile faded.**

**Another complication, Edward had said.**

**Billy still stared at me with intense, anxious eyes. I groaned internally. Had Billy recognized Edward so easily? Could he really believe the impossible legends his son had scoffed at?**

**The answer was clear in Billy's eyes. Yes. Yes, he could.**

"That was the end of the chapter," I informed everyone before passing the book off to Edward.

I pulled Esme closer to me, holding her in my arms happily. No matter how long we walked this earth, I would love my darling. I sighed contently and kissed the top of her head as Edward began to read.


	14. Balancing

**Chapter Fourteen: Balancing**

Bella

I hummed quietly in the back of my throat as Rose's thumb lazily stroked my shoulder before focusing on Edward as he began to read.

**Balancing**

**"Billy!" Charlie called as soon as he got out of the car.**

**I turned toward the house, beckoning to Jacob as I ducked under the porch. I heard Charlie greeting them loudly behind me.**

**"I'm going to pretend I didn't see you behind the wheel, Jake," he said disapprovingly.**

**"We get permits early on the rez," Jacob said while I unlocked the door and flicked on the porch light.**

**"Sure you do," Charlie laughed.**

**"I have to get around somehow." I recognized Billy's resonant voice easily, despite the years. The sound of it made me feel suddenly younger, a child.**

I smiled wryly. Not that I actually enjoyed the majority of the time that I spent around Billy – not because of the man himself but because Charlie found it necessary to at least _attempt _to teach me how to fish. It didn't exactly turn out well…

**I went inside, leaving the door open behind me and turning on lights before I hung up my jacket. Then I stood in the door, watching anxiously as Charlie and Jacob helped Billy out of the car and into his wheelchair.**

**I backed out of the way as the three of them hurried in, shaking off the rain.**

**"This is a surprise," Charlie was saying.**

**"It's been too long," Billy answered. "I hope it's not a bad time." His dark eyes flashed up to me again, their expression unreadable.**

I rolled my eyes at that. "Of course you do," I snorted and Edward grinned.

"I believe his exact thoughts were: Shit! What the hell is the bloodsucker doing with Charlie's daughter! Damn leech better stay away from her. Doesn't the girl realize what she's doing. Humph! We got here right in time, I suppose," he chuckled and we all laughed.

**"No, it's great. I hope you can stay for the game." Jacob grinned. "I think that's the plan — our TV broke last week." Billy made a face at his son. "And, of course, Jacob was anxious to see Bella again," he added. Jacob scowled and ducked his head while I fought back a surge of remorse. Maybe I'd been too convincing on the beach.**

**"Are you hungry?" I asked, turning toward the kitchen. I was eager to escape Billy's searching gaze.**

**"Naw, we ate just before we came," Jacob answered.**

**"How about you, Charlie?" I called over my shoulder as I fled around the corner.**

**"Sure," he replied, his voice moving in the direction of the front room and the TV. I could hear Billy's chair follow.**

**The grilled cheese sandwiches were in the frying pan and I was slicing up a tomato when I sensed someone behind me.**

**"So, how are things?" Jacob asked.**

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Well, that's a real original way to start a conversation. Why not ask her about the weather next, mutt?" he said teasingly and I smirked.

**"Pretty good." I smiled. His enthusiasm was hard to resist. "How about you? Did you finish your car?"**

**"No." He frowned. "I still need parts. We borrowed that one." He pointed with his thumb in the direction of the front yard.**

**"Sorry. I haven't seen any… what was it you were looking for?"**

**"Master cylinder." He grinned. "Is something wrong with the truck?" he added suddenly.**

**"No."**

**"Oh. I just wondered because you weren't driving it."**

**I stared down at the pan, pulling up the edge of a sandwich to check the bottom side. "I got a ride with a friend."**

"A _friend?"_ Edward asked in a mock-hurt tone. "And here I thought that what we had was stronger than that," he sniffed I couldn't help myself. I burst into laughter, along with the rest of the family.

"Nope," I said nonchalantly once I regained control of my voice. "Sorry but I usually try not to date people that aren't blonde, gorgeous, incredible, female vampires named Rosalie Hale," I grinned and Rose smiled, leaning over to kiss me while Edward faked a disappointed pout before we pulled back and he went back to reading.

**"Nice ride." Jacob's voice was admiring. "I didn't recognize the driver, though. I thought I knew most of the kids around here."**

**I nodded noncommittally, keeping my eyes down as I flipped sandwiches.**

**"My dad seemed to know him from somewhere."**

**"Jacob, could you hand me some plates? They're in the cupboard over the sink."**

**"Sure."**

**He got the plates in silence. I hoped he would let it drop now.**

Jasper chuckled. "Why do I get the feeling it's not going to work?"

"Because it didn't," I admitted with a shrug.

**"So who was it?" he asked, setting two plates on the counter next to me.**

**I sighed in defeat. "Edward Cullen."**

**To my surprise, he laughed. I glanced up at him. He looked a little embarrassed.**

**"Guess that explains it, then," he said. "I wondered why my dad was acting so strange."**

**"That's right." I faked an innocent expression. "He doesn't like the Cullens."**

**"Superstitious old man," Jacob muttered under his breath.**

Emmett's booming laugh rang out. "Please. Compared to us, you really can't call him an old man," he smirked.

**"You don't think he'd say anything to Charlie?" I couldn't help asking, the words coming out in a low rush.**

**Jacob stared at me for a moment, and I couldn't read the expression in his dark eyes. "I doubt it," he finally answered. "I think Charlie chewed him out pretty good last time. They haven't spoken much since — tonight is sort of a reunion, I think. I don't think he'd bring it up again."**

**"Oh," I said, trying to sound indifferent.**

**I stayed in the front room after I carried the food out to Charlie, pretending to watch the game while Jacob chattered at me. I was really listening to the men's conversation, watching for any sign that Billy was about to rat me out, trying to think of ways to stop him if he began.**

I tilted my head to the side and smiled ruefully. "Not that Charlie would have believed him, anyway."

"It's the thought that counts, dear. You didn't know if he would consider saying anything or not and you wanted to do what you could to keep out secret safe," Esme said sweetly and I smiled at her.

"Thanks, Mom," I replied and she beamed. Esme loved being called 'Mom', and I couldn't think of anyone that could possibly deserve the title more than her.

**It was a long night. I had a lot of homework that was going undone, but I was afraid to leave Billy alone with Charlie. Finally, the game ended.**

**"Are you and your friends coming back to the beach soon?" Jacob asked as he pushed his father over the lip of the threshold.**

**"I'm not sure," I hedged.**

**"That was fun, Charlie," Billy said.**

**"Come up for the next game," Charlie encouraged.**

**"Sure, sure," Billy said. "We'll be here. Have a good night." His eyes shifted to mine, and his smile disappeared. "You take care, Bella," he added seriously.**

Emmett snorted. "Well, that's not creepy at all," he said sarcastically and I nodded in agreement.

**"Thanks," I muttered, looking away.**

**I headed for the stairs while Charlie waved from the doorway.** **"Wait, Bella," he said.**

**I cringed. Had Billy gotten something in before I'd joined them in the living room?**

**But Charlie was relaxed, still grinning from the unexpected visit.**

**"I didn't get a chance to talk to you tonight. How was your day?"**

**"Good." I hesitated with one foot on the first stair, searching for details I could safely share. "My badminton team won all four games."**

Jasper smirked. "Your _team _won, you say?" he challenged but I just rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, we all know that I was the clumsiest human ever," I said playfully.

**"Wow, I didn't know you could play badminton."**

**"Well, actually I can't, but my partner is really good," I admitted.**

**"Who is it?" he asked with token interest.**

**"Um… Mike Newton," I told him reluctantly.**

**"Oh yeah — you said you were friends with the Newton kid." He perked up. "Nice family." He mused for a minute. "Why didn't you ask him to the dance this weekend?"**

Rose hissed and everyone else but Carlisle and Esme shuddered. "Rose you know I don't need anyone else but you and our family. Besides, who on Earth would ever _want _to go anywhere with Mike besides Jessica?" I wondered mystified. Even Alice didn't have an answer for that one.

**"Dad!" I groaned. "He's kind of dating my friend Jessica. Besides, you know I can't dance."**

**"Oh yeah," he muttered. Then he smiled at me apologetically. "So I guess it's good you'll be gone Saturday… I've made plans to go fishing with the guys from the station. The weather's supposed to be real warm. But if you wanted to put your trip off till someone could go with you, I'd stay home. I know I leave you here alone too much."**

**"Dad, you're doing a great job." I smiled, hoping my relief didn't show. "I've never minded being alone —** **I'm too much like you." I winked at him, and he smiled his crinkly-eyed smile.**

**I slept better that night, too tired to dream again. When I woke to the pearl gray morning, my mood was blissful. The tense evening with Billy and Jacob seemed harmless enough now; I decided to forget it completely. I caught myself whistling while I was pulling the front part of my hair back into a barrette, and later again as I skipped down the stairs.**

**Charlie noticed.**

Alice rolled her eyes and raised one eyebrow. "Just how unobservant do you think Charlie is?" she asked teasingly and I laughed lightly.

"Well, it just wasn't exactly like him to pick up on something like that," I retorted and Jasper grinned.

"And that's why he's the Chief of Police, right?" he teased and I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

**"You're cheerful this morning," he commented over breakfast.**

**I shrugged. "It's Friday."**

**I hurried so I would be ready to go the second Charlie left. I had my bag ready, shoes on, teeth brushed,** **but even though I rushed to the door as soon as I was sure Charlie would be out of sight, Edward was faster. **_**I couldn't explain why even if someone asked me, but I was ridiculously eager to get to school. **_**He was waiting in his shiny car, windows down, engine off.**

**I didn't hesitate this time, climbing in the passenger side quickly, the sooner to see his face. He grinned his crooked smile at me, stopping my breath and my heart. I couldn't imagine how an angel could be any more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon. **_**Yes, there is, my subconscious whispered. Blond hair and eyes that flickered between violet and gold flashed in my mind. His voice brought me out of my thoughts.**_

**"How did you sleep?" he asked. I wondered if he had any idea how appealing his voice was.**

**"Fine. How was your night?"**

Carlisle smiled. "Of course, you wouldn't be phased by it," he commented and I smiled before frowning and turning to Edward.

"It's still creepy that you watched me sleep," I informed him before grimacing. "I still can't believe that I was actually _pleased _that you were freaking _stalking _me," I said in disbelief, shaking my head. He shrugged and Esme frowned, looking at each of us.

"Just so that we're clear, there will be no stalking humans," she said sternly. "No following them and absolutely no watching them sleep," she instructed and, like the good vampires we are, we obediently chorused "Yes, Mom" and she smiled, shaking her head at our antics.

**"Pleasant." His smile was amused; I felt like I was missing an inside joke.**

**"Can I ask what you did?" I asked.**

**"No." He grinned. "Today is still mine."**

**He wanted to know about people today: more about Renée, her hobbies, what we'd done in our free time together. And then the one grandmother I'd known, my few school friends — embarrassing me when he asked about boys I'd dated. I was relieved that I'd never really dated anyone, so that particular conversation couldn't last long. He seemed as surprised as Jessica and Angela by my lack of romantic history.**

**"So you never met anyone you wanted?" he asked in a serious tone that made me wonder what he was thinking about.**

**I was grudgingly honest. "Not in Phoenix."**

**His lips pressed together into a hard line.**

**We were in the cafeteria at this point. The day had sped by in the blur that was rapidly becoming routine.**

**I took advantage of his brief pause to take a bite of my bagel.**

**"I should have let you drive yourself today," he announced, apropos of nothing, while I chewed.**

**"Why?" I demanded.**

**"I'm leaving with Alice after lunch."**

**"Oh." I blinked, bewildered and disappointed. "That's okay, it's not that far of a walk."**

Esme glared at her son. "He better not leave you to walk home in the rain," she said menacingly, speaking to me but looking at Edward.

I grinned at his meek look. We may be vampires but one look from Esme was enough to stop us in our tracks. "It's okay, Esme. Of course, Edward didn't make me walk home," I reassured her and my brother shot me a grateful look.

**He frowned at me impatiently. "I'm not going to make you walk home. We'll go get your truck and leave it here for you."**

**"I don't have my key with me," I sighed. "I really don't mind walking." What I minded was losing my time with him.**

**He shook his head. "Your truck will be here, and the key will be in the ignition — unless you're afraid someone might steal it." He laughed at the thought.**

Even I had to laugh at that one. Yes, I had loved my truck but I wasn't quite naïve enough to ever think that someone would actually go to the effort to steal the ancient piece of machinery.

Rose shuddered a little at the thought. "I'm sorry, but you may have to arrest a person on principal if they tried to steal a vehicle like that," she grimaced and I chuckled, kissing her cheek quickly.

"Even I agree with that," I told her and she grinned widely.

**"All right," I agreed, pursing my lips. I was pretty sure my key was in the pocket of a pair of jeans I wore Wednesday, under a pile of clothes in the laundry room. Even if he broke into my house, or whatever he was planning, he'd never find it. He seemed to feel the challenge in my consent. He smirked, overconfident.**

**"So where are you going?" I asked as casually as I could manage.**

**"Hunting," he answered grimly. "If I'm going to be alone with you tomorrow, I'm going to take whatever precautions I can." His face grew morose… and pleading. "You can always cancel, you know."**

**I looked down, afraid of the persuasive power of his eyes. I refused to be convinced to fear him, no matter how real the danger might be. It doesn't matter, I repeated in my head.**

**"No," I whispered, glancing back at his face. "I can't."**

**"Perhaps you're right," he murmured bleakly. His eyes seemed to darken in color as I watched.**

**I changed the subject. "What time will I see you tomorrow?" I asked, already depressed by the thought of him leaving now.**

**"That depends… it's a Saturday, don't you want to sleep in?" he offered.**

**"No," I answered too fast. He restrained a smile.**

**"The same time as usual, then," he decided. "Will Charlie be there?"**

**"No, he's fishing tomorrow." I beamed at the memory of how conveniently things had worked out.**

**His voice turned sharp. "And if you don't come home, what will he think?"**

Jasper huffed in irritation. "You know, your shifting emotions get really annoying after a while," he glared at the bronze haired vampire, who just shrugged.

**"I have no idea," I answered coolly. "He knows I've been meaning to do the laundry. Maybe he'll think I fell in the washer."**

Everyone laughed at that. I debated saying what I was thinking out loud but decided I might as well.

"The sad thing is," I said, grinning and shaking my head. "I really did do that once," I admitted, causing the laughter to get even louder. It took five minutes to get everyone calmed down enough to read again.

**He scowled at me and I scowled back. His anger was much more impressive than mine.**

**"What are you hunting tonight?" I asked when I was sure I had lost the glowering contest.**

**"Whatever we find in the park. We aren't going far." He seemed bemused by my casual reference to his secret realities.**

**"Why are you going with Alice?" I wondered.**

**"Alice is the most… supportive." He frowned as he spoke.**

**"And the others?" I asked timidly. "What are they?"**

**His brow puckered for a brief moment. "Incredulous, for the most part." I peeked quickly behind me at his family. They sat staring off in different directions, exactly the same as the first time I'd seen them. Only now they were four; their beautiful, bronze-haired brother sat across from me,** **his golden eyes troubled.**

**"They don't like me," I guessed. **_**That thought bothered me far more than it should have.**_

Rose hummed quietly in the back of her throat, leaning over so that her head rested on my shoulder. "I am sorry for before," she apologized, her voice a soft whisper in my ear.

I turned my head so that I could face her and smiled. "It's okay. We're together now and that's all that matters," I told her, kissing her softly.

**"That's not it," he disagreed, but his eyes were too innocent. "They don't understand why I can't leave you alone."**

**I grimaced. "Neither do I, for that matter."**

"Yeah, Eddie," Emmett teased. "Leave the girl alone."

**Edward shook his head slowly, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling before he met my gaze again. "I told you — you don't see yourself clearly at all. You're not like anyone I've ever known. You fascinate me."**

**I glared at him, sure he was teasing now.**

**He smiled as he deciphered my expression. "Having the advantages I do," he murmured, touching his forehead discreetly, "I have a better than average grasp of human nature. People are predictable. But you… you never do what I expect. You always take me by surprise."**

**I looked away, my eyes wandering back to his family, embarrassed and dissatisfied. His words made me feel like a science experiment. I wanted to laugh at myself for expecting anything else.**

Edward frowned. "Sorry, Bella. I didn't mean it like that, really," he apologized but I waved him off.

"It's fine, Edward," I told him.

**"That part is easy enough to explain," he continued. I felt his eyes on my face but I couldn't look at him yet, afraid he might read the chagrin in my eyes. "But there's more… and it's not so easy to put into words —" I was still staring at the Cullens while he spoke. **

**Suddenly Rosalie, his blond and breathtaking sister, turned to look at me. No, not to look — to glare, with dark, cold eyes. **_**Her stare was the most intense thing that I'd ever seen. I felt almost as if I held Edward's gift and could read her mind as I read the intense worry and protectiveness that she held for her family in those fiery golden orbs.**_

**I wanted to look away, but her gaze held me until Edward broke off mid-sentence and made an angry noise under his breath. It was almost a hiss.**

**Rosalie turned her head, and I was relieved to be free. **_**At least, I thought I was. **_**I looked back at Edward — and I knew he could see the confusion that widened my eyes.**

**His face was tight as he explained. "I'm sorry about that. She's just worried. You see… it's dangerous for more than just me if, after spending so much time with you so publicly…" He looked down.**

**"If?"**

**"If this ends… badly." He dropped his head into his hands, as he had that night in Port Angeles. His anguish was plain; I yearned to comfort him, but I was at a loss to know how. **

**My hand reached toward him involuntarily; quickly, though, I dropped it to the table, fearing that my touch would only make things worse. I realized slowly that his words should frighten me. I waited for that fear to come, but all I could seem to feel was an ache for his pain.**

**And frustration — frustration that Rosalie had interrupted whatever he was about to say. **_**But, strangely enough, I didn't mind as much as I might have if it had been someone else. Still, **_**I didn't know how to bring it up again. He still had his head in his hands.**

**I tried to speak in a normal voice. "And you have to leave now?"**

**"Yes." He raised his face; it was serious for a moment, and then his mood shifted and he smiled. "It's probably for the best. We still have fifteen minutes of that wretched movie left to endure in Biology — I don't think I could take any more."**

**I started. Alice — her short, inky hair in a halo of spiky disarray around her exquisite, elfin face —** **was suddenly standing behind his shoulder. Her slight frame was willowy, graceful even in absolute stillness.**

Alice grinned widely at her description. "Thanks, Bella!" she chirped and I laughed.

"You're welcome, Ali," I replied.

**He greeted her without looking away from me. "Alice."**

**"Edward," she answered, her high soprano voice almost as attractive as his.**

**"Alice, Bella — Bella, Alice," he introduced us, gesturing casually with his hand, a wry smile on his face.**

"It was about time," my sister huffed in irritation, glaring at our mind-reading brother.

"Well," Edward began defensively, searching for some way to defend himself, but Alice just shook her head and motioned for him to read.

**"Hello, Bella." Her brilliant obsidian eyes were unreadable, but her smile was friendly. "It's nice to finally meet you."**

**Edward flashed a dark look at her.**

**"Hi, Alice," I murmured shyly.**

**"Are you ready?" she asked him.**

**His voice was aloof. "Nearly. I'll meet you at the car."**

**She left without another word; her walk was so fluid, so sinuous that I felt a sharp pang of jealousy.**

Alice laughed. "Well, now you don't have to," she teased and I agreed, laughing with her. It seemed silly, now, but when I was human it had been intimidating, especially considering all of my underlying insecurities.

**"Should I say 'have fun,' or is that the wrong sentiment?" I asked, turning back to him.**

**"No, 'have fun' works as well as anything." He grinned.**

**"Have fun, then." I worked to sound wholehearted. Of course I didn't fool him.**

**"I'll try." He still grinned. "And you try to be safe, please."**

**"Safe in Forks — what a challenge."**

**"For you it is a challenge." **

**His jaw hardened. "Promise."**

**"I promise to try to be safe," I recited. "I'll do the laundry tonight — that ought to be fraught with peril."**

**"Don't fall in," he mocked.**

We all laughed at that as they remembered my recent confession. What can I say? I really was the clumsiest human ever. I should have applied to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for Most Clumsy Person Ever to Walk the Earth.

**"I'll do my best."**

**He stood then, and I rose, too.**

**"I'll see you tomorrow," I sighed.**

**"It seems like a long time to you, doesn't it?" he mused.**

**I nodded glumly.**

**"I'll be there in the morning," he promised, smiling his crooked smile. He reached across the table to touch my face, lightly brushing along my cheekbone again. Then he turned and walked away. I stared after him until he was gone.**

**I was sorely tempted to ditch the rest of the day, at the very least Gym, but a warning instinct stopped me. I knew that if I disappeared now, Mike and others would assume I was with Edward. And Edward was worried about the time we'd spent together publicly… if things went wrong. I refused to dwell on the last thought, concentrating instead on making things safer for him.**

"You really shouldn't skip school unless you absolutely have to, dear, but I'm glad that you decided against it," Esme scolded me gently before smiling at me lovingly. I returned her smile with one of my own.

**I intuitively knew — and sensed he did, too — that tomorrow would be pivotal. Our relationship couldn't continue to balance, as it did, on the point of a knife. We would fall off one edge or the other, depending entirely upon his decision, or his instincts. My decision was made, made before I'd ever consciously chosen, and I was committed to seeing it through. Because there was nothing more terrifying to me, more excruciating, than the thought of turning away from him, **_**from all of them. I couldn't be without them.**_** It was impossibility.**

We all winced at that reference to their upcoming absence. Rose and I locked hands and I noticed the rest of the couples doing the same. We all needed the support and we would need it even more in the upcoming book.

**I went to class, feeling dutiful. I couldn't honestly say what happened in Biology; my mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of tomorrow. In Gym, Mike was speaking to me again; he wished me a good time in Seattle. I carefully explained that I'd canceled my trip, worried about my truck.**

**"Are you going to the dance with Cullen?" he asked, suddenly sulky.**

**"No, I'm not going to the dance at all."**

**"What are you doing, then?" he asked, too interested.**

**My natural urge was to tell him to butt out. Instead, I lied brightly.**

**"Laundry, and then I have to study for the Trig test or I'm going to fail."**

**"Is Cullen helping you study?"**

**"Edward," I emphasized, "is not going to help me study. He's gone away somewhere for the weekend."**

**The lies came more naturally than usual, I noted with surprise.**

They all looked at me curiously and I shrugged. "I could lie when I absolutely had to, just not any other time," I explained and they nodded.

**"Oh." He perked up. "You know, you could come to the dance with our group anyway — that would be cool. We'd all dance with you," he promised.**

**The mental image of Jessica's face made my tone sharper than necessary.**

Emmett laughed boisterously. "I think seeing Jessica's face would do that to anyone," he grinned widely and I couldn't hold back a laugh at that.

"Emmett!" Esme scolded, but even she had a hint of a smile on her face.

**"I'm not going to the dance, Mike, okay?"**

**"Fine." He sulked again. "I was just offering."**

**When the school day had finally ended, I walked to the parking lot without enthusiasm. I did not especially want to walk home, but I couldn't see how he would have retrieved my truck. Then again, I was starting to believe that nothing was impossible for him. The latter instinct proved correct — my truck sat in the same space he'd parked his Volvo in this morning. I shook my head, incredulous, as I opened the unlocked door and saw the key in the ignition.**

**There was a piece of white paper folded on my seat. I got in and closed the door before I unfolded it. Two words were written in his elegant script.**

_**Be safe.**_

**The sound of the truck roaring to life frightened me. I laughed at myself.**

I laughed now, too. "I really had gone too long without driving it; it sounded ten times louder than it actually was!"

**When I got home, the handle of the door was locked, the dead bolt unlocked, just as I'd left it this morning. Inside, I went straight to the laundry room. It looked just the same as I'd left it, too. I dug for my jeans and, after finding them, checked the pockets. Empty. Maybe I'd hung my key up after all, I thought, shaking my head.**

Jasper smirked. "Nope, he just followed his sense of smell."

I shuddered. "Alright, that's just creepy," I complained and everyone but Edward agreed with me – even Carlisle and Esme.

**Following the same instinct that had prompted me to lie to Mike, I called Jessica on the pretense of wishing her luck at the dance. When she offered the same wish for my day with Edward, I told her about the cancellation. She was more disappointed than really necessary for a third-party observer to be. I said goodbye quickly after that.**

**Charlie was absentminded at dinner, worried over something at work, I guessed, or maybe a basketball game, or maybe he was just really enjoying the lasagna — it was hard to tell with Charlie.**

**"You know, Dad…" I began, breaking into his reverie.**

**"What's that, Bell?"**

**"I think you're right about Seattle. I think I'll wait until Jessica or someone else can go with me."**

**"Oh," he said, surprised. "Oh, okay. So, do you want me to stay home?"**

Alice rolled her eyes. "That would completely defeat the purpose of telling him that your plans were cancelled," she said matter-of-factly.

**"No, Dad, don't change your plans. I've got a million things to do… homework, laundry… I need to go to the library and the grocery store. I'll be in and out all day… you go and have fun."**

**"Are you sure?"**

**"Absolutely, Dad. Besides, the freezer is getting dangerously low on fish — we're down to a two, maybe three years' supply."**

**"You're sure easy to live with, Bella." He smiled.**

**"I could say the same thing about you," I said, laughing. The sound of my laughter was off, but he didn't seem to notice. I felt so guilty for deceiving him that I almost took Edward's advice and told him where I would be. Almost.**

Esme frowned at me and I apologized meekly. Like I said. Esme just had that whole disappointed-Mother look to her at times like these and you just can't help but cave when you see it.

**After dinner, I folded clothes and moved another load through the dryer. Unfortunately it was the kind of job that only keeps hands busy. My mind definitely had too much free time, and it was getting out of control. I fluctuated between anticipation so intense that it was very nearly pain, and an insidious fear that picked at my resolve. I had to keep reminding myself that I'd made my choice, and I wasn't going back** **on it. I pulled his note out of my pocket much more often than necessary to absorb the two small words he'd written. He wants me to be safe, I told myself again and again. I would just hold on to the faith that,** **in the end, that desire would win out over the others. And what was my other choice — to cut him out of my life? Intolerable. Besides, since I'd come to Forks, it really seemed like my life was about him.**

**But a tiny voice in the back of my mind worried, wondering if it would hurt very much… if it ended badly.**

**I was relieved when it was late enough to be acceptable for bedtime. I knew I was far too stressed to sleep, so I did something I'd never done before. I deliberately took unnecessary cold medicine — the kind that knocked me out for a good eight hours. **

"Bella!" Carlisle said in a shocked voice before shaking his head and going on in a stern, fatherly voice. "You really shouldn't have done that. It could have had any possible number of negative side effects or ramifications," he scolded me.

"I know, Dad. I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have done it. I just didn't think I could handle not getting any sleep that particular night," I admitted and his eyes softened and he nodded.

"I understand, Bella. Besides, you are a vampire now, so I really don't have to worry about it, do I?" he smiled and I shook my head, getting up and going to hug him before taking my seat by Rose.

**I normally wouldn't condone that type of behavior in myself, but tomorrow would be complicated enough without me being loopy from sleep deprivation on top of everything else. While I waited for the drugs to kick in, I dried my clean hair till it was impeccably straight, and fussed over what I would wear tomorrow. **

**With everything ready for the morning, I finally lay in my bed. I felt hyper; I couldn't stop twitching. I got up and rifled through my shoebox of CDs until I found a collection of Chopin's nocturnes. I put that on very quietly and then lay down again, concentrating on relaxing individual parts of my body. Somewhere in the middle of that exercise, the cold pills took effect, and I gladly sank into unconsciousness.**

**I woke early, having slept soundly and dreamlessly thanks to my gratuitous drug use. Though I was well rested, I slipped right back into the same hectic frenzy from the night before. I dressed in a rush, smoothing my collar against my neck, fidgeting with the tan sweater till it hung right over my jeans. I sneaked a swift look out the window to see that Charlie was already gone. A thin, cottony layer of clouds veiled the sky. They didn't look very lasting.**

Alice scowled playfully. "You really doubted me, sister dear? Why, I'm very disappointed in you," she mock-scolded me and I laughed before swallowing and adopting a meek stance.

"Well, I'm very sorry, Alice. Can you ever possibly forgive me?" I apologized, holding back a smile as she pretending to be deep in thought before making her decision.

"Nope!" she grinned cheekily and I huffed, leaning back and crossing my arms.

"Well, fine then!" I retorted, looking away from her and pouting. I looked sideways at her and saw that we were in the exact same position, down to the sideways eyes. We both burst into laughter, being quickly joined by our family.

**I ate breakfast without tasting the food, hurrying to clean up when I was done. I peeked out the window again, but nothing had changed. I had just finished brushing my teeth and was heading back downstairs when a quiet knock sent my heart thudding against my rib cage.**

**I flew to the door; I had a little trouble with the simple dead bolt, but I yanked the door open at last, and there he was. All the agitation dissolved as soon as I looked at his face, calm taking its place. I breathed a sigh of relief — yesterday's fears seemed very foolish with him here.**

**He wasn't smiling at first — his face was somber. But then his expression lightened as he looked me over, and he laughed.**

**"Good morning," he chuckled.**

**"What's wrong?" I glanced down to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything important, like shoes, or pants.**

Emmett laughed loudly at that but I just rolled my eyes and motioned to Edward to keep reading.

**"We match." He laughed again.**

**I realized he had a long, light tan sweater on, with a white collar showing underneath, and blue jeans. I laughed with him, hiding a secret twinge of regret — why did he have to look like a runway model when I couldn't?**

**I locked the door behind me while he walked to the truck. He waited by the passenger door with a martyred expression that was easy to understand.**

**"We made a deal," I reminded him smugly, climbing into the driver's seat, and reaching over to unlock his door.**

**"Where to?" I asked.**

**"Put your seat belt on — I'm nervous already."**

**I gave him a dirty look as I complied.**

**"Where to?" I repeated with a sigh.**

**"Take the one-oh-one north," he ordered.**

**It was surprisingly difficult to concentrate on the road while feeling his gaze on my face. I compensated by driving more carefully than usual through the still-sleeping town.**

**"Were you planning to make it out of Forks before nightfall?"**

**"This truck is old enough to be your car's grandfather — have some respect," I retorted.**

Edward grinned. "But it was still younger than me so it should have respected me by going faster," he retorted and I laughed at him.

"Alright, old man," I teased and he scowled good-humoredly at me.

**We were soon out of the town limits, despite his negativity. Thick underbrush and green-swathed trunks replaced the lawns and houses.**

**"Turn right on the one-ten," he instructed just as I was about to ask. I obeyed silently.**

**"Now we drive until the pavement ends."**

**I could hear a smile in his voice, but I was too afraid of driving off the road and proving him right to look over and be sure.**

**"And what's there, at the pavement's end?" I wondered.**

**"A trail."**

**"We're hiking?" Thank goodness I'd worn tennis shoes.**

**"Is that a problem?" He sounded as if he'd expected as much.**

**"No." I tried to make the lie sound confident. But if he thought my truck was slow…**

**"Don't worry, it's only five miles or so, and we're in no hurry."**

**Five miles. I didn't answer, so that he wouldn't hear my voice crack in panic. Five miles of treacherous roots and loose stones, trying to twist my ankles or otherwise incapacitate me. This was going to be humiliating.**

**We drove in silence for a while as I contemplated the coming horror.**

**"What are you thinking?" he asked impatiently after a few moments.**

Jasper snorted. "Please, Edward's middle name should be 'impatience'," he complained and I grinned widely while my bronze-haired brother glared at the blonde male vampire.

**I lied again. "Just wondering where we're going."**

**"It's a place I like to go when the weather is nice." We both glanced out the windows at the thinning clouds after he spoke.**

**"Charlie said it would be warm today."**

**"And did you tell Charlie what you were up to?" he asked.**

**"Nope."**

**"But Jessica thinks we're going to Seattle together?" He seemed cheered by the idea.**

**"No, I told her you canceled on me — which is true."**

**"No one knows you're with me?" Angrily, now.**

"Edward!" Surprisingly, it was Carlisle who scolded his son, this time. "That is absolutely no way to speak to a lady," he told him, frowning, and Edward lowered his head to our father.

"I know, Dad. I am sorry, Bella," he apologized and I smiled at him.

"It's fine, Edward," I told him.

**"That depends… I assume you told Alice?"**

**"That's very helpful, Bella," he snapped.**

**I pretended I didn't hear that.**

**"Are you so depressed by Forks that it's made you suicidal?" he demanded when I ignored him.**

**"You said it might cause trouble for you… us being together publicly," I reminded him.**

**"So you're worried about the trouble it might cause me— if you don't come home?" His voice was still angry, and bitingly sarcastic.**

**I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road.**

**He muttered something under his breath, speaking so quickly that I couldn't understand.**

**We were silent for the rest of the drive. I could feel the waves of infuriated disapproval rolling off of him, and I could think of nothing to say.**

**And then the road ended, constricting to a thin foot trail with a small wooden marker. I parked on the narrow shoulder and stepped out, afraid because he was angry with me and I didn't have driving as an excuse not to look at him. It was warm now, warmer than it had been in Forks since the day I'd arrived, almost muggy under the clouds. I pulled off my sweater and knotted it around my waist, glad that I'd worn the light, sleeveless shirt — especially if I had five miles of hiking ahead of me.**

**I heard his door slam, and looked over to see that he'd removed his sweater, too. He was facing away from me, into the unbroken forest beside my truck.**

**"This way," he said, glancing over his shoulder at me, eyes still annoyed. He started into the dark forest.**

**"The trail?" Panic was clear in my voice as I hurried around the truck to catch up to him.**

**"I said there was a trail at the end of the road, not that we were taking it."**

**"No trail?" I asked desperately.**

**"I won't let you get lost." He turned then, with a mocking smile,**

Esme hissed quietly. "Edward," she sighed, shaking her head.

**and I stifled a gasp. His white shirt was sleeveless, and he wore it unbuttoned, so that the smooth white skin of his throat flowed uninterrupted over the marble contours of his chest, his perfect musculature no longer merely hinted at behind concealing clothes. He was too perfect, I realized with a piercing stab of despair. There was no way this godlike creature could be meant for me.**

**He stared at me, bewildered by my tortured expression.**

**"Do you want to go home?" he said quietly, a different pain than mine saturating his voice.**

**"No." I walked forward till I was close beside him, anxious not to waste one second of whatever time I might have with him.**

**"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice gentle.**

**"I'm not a good hiker," I answered dully. "You'll have to be very patient."**

**"I can be patient — if I make a great effort." He smiled, holding my glance, trying to lift me out of my sudden, unexplained dejection.**

**I tried to smile back, but the smile was unconvincing. He scrutinized my face.**

**"I'll take you home," he promised. I couldn't tell if the promise was unconditional, or restricted to an immediate departure. I knew he thought it was fear that upset me, and I was grateful again that I was the one person whose mind he couldn't hear.**

Edward scowled. "Not anymore," he muttered, mock-glaring at me when I grinned cheekily.

**"If you want me to hack five miles through the jungle before sundown, you'd better start leading the way,"** **I said acidly. He frowned at me, struggling to understand my tone and expression.** **He gave up after a moment and led the way into the forest.**

**It wasn't as hard as I had feared. The way was mostly flat, and he held the damp ferns and webs of moss aside for me. When his straight path took us over fallen trees or boulders, he would help me, lifting me by the elbow, and then releasing me instantly when I was clear. His cold touch on my skin never failed to make my heart thud erratically. Twice, when that happened, I caught a look on his face that made me sure he could somehow hear it.**

We laughed at that. I was so glad that I had no beating heart left to betray me at times like that when I was with Rose. It was annoying enough the first time around.

**I tried to keep my eyes away from his perfection as much as possible, but I slipped often. Each time, his beauty pierced me through with sadness.**

**For the most part, we walked in silence. Occasionally he would ask a random question that he hadn't gotten to in the past two days of interrogation. He asked about my birthdays, my grade school teachers, my childhood pets — and I had to admit that after killing three fish in a row, I'd given up on the whole institution. He laughed at that, louder than I was used to — bell-like echoes bouncing back to us from the empty woods.**

**The hike took me most of the morning, but he never showed any sign of impatience. The forest spread out around us in a boundless labyrinth of ancient trees, and I began to be nervous that we would never find our way out again. He was perfectly at ease, comfortable in the green maze, never seeming to feel any doubt about our direction.**

**After several hours, the light that filtered through the canopy transformed, the murky olive tone shifting to a brighter jade. The day had turned sunny, just as he'd foretold. For the first time since we'd entered the woods, I felt a thrill of excitement — which quickly turned to impatience.**

**"Are we there yet?" I teased, pretending to scowl.**

**"Nearly." He smiled at the change in my mood. "Do you see the brightness ahead?"**

**I peered into the thick forest. "Um, should I?"**

**He smirked. "Maybe it's a bit soon for your eyes."**

"Smug, arrogant, moody vampire," Jasper muttered, rolling his eyes and we all laughed but Edward who pouted until Emmett kissed him.

**"Time to visit the optometrist," I muttered. His smirk grew more pronounced.**

**But then, after another hundred yards, I could definitely see a lightening in the trees ahead, a glow that was yellow instead of green. I picked up the pace, my eagerness growing with every step. He let me lead now, following noiselessly.**

**I reached the edge of the pool of light and stepped through the last fringe of ferns into the loveliest place I had ever seen. The meadow was small, perfectly round, and filled with wildflowers — violet, yellow, and soft white. Somewhere nearby, I could hear the bubbling music of a stream. The sun was directly overhead, filling the circle with a haze of buttery sunshine. I walked slowly, awestruck, through the soft grass, swaying flowers, and warm, gilded air. I halfway turned, wanting to share this with him, but he wasn't behind me where I thought he'd be.**

**I spun around, searching for him with sudden alarm. Finally I spotted him, still under the dense shade of the canopy at the edge of the hollow, watching me with cautious eyes. Only then did I remember what the beauty of the meadow had driven from my mind — the enigma of Edward and the sun, which he'd promised to illustrate for me today.**

**I took a step back toward him, my eyes alight with curiosity. His eyes were wary, reluctant. I smiled encouragingly and beckoned to him with my hand, taking another step back to him. He held up a hand in warning, and I hesitated, rocking back onto my heels.**

**Edward seemed to take a deep breath, and then he stepped out into the bright glow of the midday sun.**

"That's the end of it," Edward informed us, handing the book off to his mate.

Emmett grinned widely as he looked down at the book and I internally groaned. I knew exactly what happened in this chapter. Oh, boy… Here we go…


	15. Confessions

**Chapter Fifteen: Confessions**

Rosalie

**Confessions**

Emmett had a wide smile on his face as he read that and I got the feeling that he would enjoy this chapter even more than the rest of us for the mocking opportunities that it would present him with. I, on the other hand, was more curious about Bella's initial reaction to learning more about our world.

**Edward in the sunlight was shocking. I couldn't get used to it, though I'd been staring at him all afternoon.** **His skin, white despite the faint flush from yesterday's hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface. He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn't sleep. A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal.**

Jasper raised one eyebrow. "Really, Bella? Perfect?" He turned to look at Edward speculatively. "Nah, I'm not seeing it," he shrugged and Bella smirked.

"Oh, well. I guess I really was blind back then. Now, this," she turned to me with a loving glint in her eyes. "This is true perfection," she murmured before leaning in to kiss me.

When we pulled back, I saw Edward pout while Emmett just grinned cheekily, pleased by the small comedic moment, though his arm wrapped itself tightly around the bronze-haired vampire's shoulders.

**Now and then, his lips would move, so fast it looked like they were trembling. But, when I asked, he told me he was singing to himself; it was too low for me to hear.**

Emmett tsk'ed. "Now, Eddie Boy, what have I told you about singing to yourself in public?" he mock-scolded.

Edward just raised one eyebrow before shaking his head. "Absolutely nothing, Emmy Bear, but I promise I'll stop when you stop carrying on conversations with yourself in your head," he teased lightly.

**I enjoyed the sun, too, though the air wasn't quite dry enough for my taste. I would have liked to lie back, as he did, and let the sun warm my face. But I stayed curled up, my chin resting on my knees, unwilling to take my eyes off him. The wind was gentle; it tangled my hair and ruffled the grass that swayed around his motionless form.**

**The meadow, so spectacular to me at first, paled next to his magnificence.**

**Hesitantly, always afraid, even now, that he would disappear like a mirage, too beautiful to be real… hesitantly, I reached out one finger and stroked the back of his shimmering hand, where it lay within my reach. I marveled again at the perfect texture, satin smooth, cool as stone. When I looked up again, his eyes were open, watching me. Butterscotch today, lighter, warmer after hunting. His quick smile turned up the corners of his flawless lips.**

**"I don't scare you?" he asked playfully, but I could hear the real curiosity in his soft voice.**

Alice rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you really never caught on to the fact that she wasn't scared of you. How many times did she tell you that she wasn't?" she scolded and Edward just smiled sheepishly while my mate grinned at their antics.

**"No more than usual."**

**He smiled wider; his teeth flashed in the sun.**

**I inched closer, stretched out my whole hand now to trace the contours of his forearm with my fingertips.**

**I saw that my fingers trembled, and knew it wouldn't escape his notice.**

**"Do you mind?" I asked, for he had closed his eyes again.**

**"No," he said without opening his eyes. "You can't imagine how that feels." He sighed.**

"I think I have a pretty good idea, now," Bella smiled wryly and we all shared a small laugh.

**I lightly trailed my hand over the perfect muscles of his arm, followed the faint pattern of bluish veins inside the crease at his elbow. With my other hand, I reached to turn his hand over. Realizing what I wished, he flipped his palm up in one of those blindingly fast, disconcerting movements of his. It startled me; my fingers froze on his arm for a brief second.**

**"Sorry," he murmured. I looked up in time to see his golden eyes close again. "It's too easy to be myself with you."**

**I lifted his hand, turning it this way and that as I watched the sun glitter on his palm. I held it closer to my face, trying to see the hidden facets in his skin.**

**"Tell me what you're thinking," he whispered. I looked to see his eyes watching me, suddenly intent. "It's still so strange for me, not knowing."**

**"You know, the rest of us feel that way all the time."**

Bella smiled widely next to me. "And now you can really know what it feels like," she said smugly and he frowned, though I saw the flash of happiness in his eyes. As hard as it may be, I got the feeling that he appreciated Bella's gift because it gave him a break from a power that could be as much of a hindrance as it was a help to him.

**"It's a hard life." Did I imagine the hint of regret in his tone? **

**"But you didn't tell me."**

**"I was wishing I could know what you were thinking…" I hesitated.**

**"And?"**

**"I was wishing that I could believe that you were real. And I was wishing that I wasn't afraid."**

**"I don't want you to be afraid." His voice was just a soft murmur. I heard what he couldn't truthfully say, that I didn't need to be afraid, that there was nothing to fear.**

"Not that I was the one who really needed convincing," Bella commented.

Esme nodded in agreement. "I'm glad that you're learning to trust yourself more now, son," she said happily and Edward smiled.

**"Well, that's not exactly the fear I meant, though that's certainly something to think about."**

**So quickly that I missed his movement, he was half sitting, propped up on his right arm, his left palm still in my hands. His angel's face was only a few inches from mine. I might have — should have — flinched away from his unexpected closeness, but I was unable to move. His golden eyes mesmerized me.**

**"What are you afraid of, then?" he whispered intently.**

**But I couldn't answer. As I had just that once before, I smelled his cool breath in my face. Sweet, delicious, the scent made my mouth water. It was unlike anything else. Instinctively, unthinkingly, I leaned closer, inhaling.**

"It probably wasn't the best action on your part, Bella, but seeing as Edward had refused to answer or tell you much of our nature it was an understandable decision," Carlisle mused and Edward frowned slightly in agreement.

**And he was gone, his hand ripped from mine. In the time it took my eyes to focus, he was twenty feet away, standing at the edge of the small meadow, in the deep shade of a huge fir tree. He stared at me, his eyes dark in the shadows, his expression unreadable.**

**I could feel the hurt and shock on my face. My empty hands stung.**

Esme's mouth fell slightly open. She gritted her teeth and when she spoke her voice was deadly calm. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, just what did you think you were doing?"

Edward flinched and opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out and he grimaced shamefully.

Bella squeezed my hand once before getting up and going to take a seat next to our mother, pulling her into a hug. "Keep reading, Emmett," she instructed him in a soft voice while calming our mother with her presence.

**"I'm… sorry… Edward," I whispered. I knew he could hear.**

**"Give me a moment," he called, just loud enough for my less sensitive ears. I sat very still.**

**After ten incredibly long seconds, he walked back, slowly for him. He stopped, still several feet away, and sank gracefully to the ground, crossing his legs. His eyes never left mine. He took two deep breaths, and then smiled in apology.**

**"I am so very sorry." He hesitated. "Would you understand what I meant if I said I was only human?"**

I rolled my eyes at that. That was his excuse? I had the feeling that he was about to do something particularly stupid and ridiculous. I could only hope that Jasper was up to the challenge of handling Esme's protectiveness of her youngest child.

**I nodded once, not quite able to smile at his joke. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as the realization of danger slowly sank in. He could smell that from where he sat. His smile turned mocking.**

A low growl rumbled in Esme's throat and Bella pulled her closer.

**"I'm the world's best predator, aren't I? Everything about me invites you in — my voice, my face, even my smell. As if I need any of that!" Unexpectedly, he was on his feet, bounding away, instantly out of sight, only to appear beneath the same tree as before, having circled the meadow in half a second.**

**"As if you could outrun me," he laughed bitterly.**

Esme hissed, holding Bella tightly in her arms. The rest of us grimaced. Of course Edward would give her the whole condescending predator-prey speech. I bit my tongue. This was in the past but my protectiveness of my mate was insatiable.

**He reached up with one hand and, with a deafening crack, effortlessly ripped a two-foot-thick branch from the trunk of the spruce. He balanced it in that hand for a moment, and then threw it with blinding speed, shattering it against another huge tree, which shook and trembled at the blow.**

**And he was in front of me again, standing two feet away, still as a stone.**

**"As if you could fight me off," he said gently.**

**I sat without moving, more frightened of him than I had ever been. I'd never seen him so completely freed of that carefully cultivated facade. He'd never been less human… or more beautiful. **

**Face ashen, eyes wide, I sat like a bird locked in the eyes of a snake.**

**His lovely eyes seem to glow with rash excitement. Then, as the seconds passed, they dimmed. His expression slowly folded into a mask of ancient sadness.**

Esme frowned but took a deep breath before sighing. "I'm alright now," she responded to Jasper's questioning look.

Edward moved to kneel at her feet. "I am sorry, Mom. It was wrong of me and I know that it's something that I need to work on, even now," he admitted and she smiled at him gently.

"It's alright, Edward. You've come far from who you were then." She sighed, a gentle light in her eyes. My brother smiled and stood to hug Esme and Bella, murmuring an apology to my mate as well.

Bella hugged our mother one last time before both she and Edward retook their seats and she kissed my cheek. Emmett took that as his cue to continue reading.

**"Don't be afraid," he murmured, his velvet voice unintentionally seductive. "I promise…" He hesitated. "I swear not to hurt you." He seemed more concerned with convincing himself than me.**

**"Don't be afraid," he whispered again as he stepped closer, with exaggerated slowness. He sat sinuously, with deliberately unhurried movements, till our faces were on the same level, just a foot apart.**

**"Please forgive me," he said formally. "I can control myself. You caught me off guard. But I'm on my best** **behavior now."**

**He waited, but I still couldn't speak.**

**"I'm not thirsty today, honestly." He winked.**

Jasper snorted and rolled his eyes at that comment and Alice soothed him. We all knew that bloodlust was a touchy subject for Jasper.

**At that I had to laugh, though the sound was shaky and breathless.**

**"Are you all right?" he asked tenderly, reaching out slowly, carefully, to place his marble hand back in mine.**

**I looked at his smooth, cold hand, and then at his eyes. They were soft, repentant. I looked back at his hand, and then deliberately returned to tracing the lines in his hand with my fingertip. I looked up and smiled timidly.**

**His answering smile was dazzling.**

**"So where were we, before I behaved so rudely?" he asked in the gentle cadences of an earlier century.**

**"I honestly can't remember."**

**He smiled, but his face was ashamed. "I think we were talking about why you were afraid, besides the obvious reason."**

**"Oh, right."**

**"Well?"**

**I looked down at his hand and doodled aimlessly across his smooth, iridescent palm. The seconds ticked by.**

**"How easily frustrated I am," he sighed. I looked into his eyes, abruptly grasping that this was every bit as new to him as it was to me. As many years of unfathomable experience as he had, this was hard for him, too. I took courage from that thought.**

I smiled softly. I could understand her reasoning, though I had to admit, there was a flipside to her logic. In _our _relationship, the both of us had experience and were able to avoid some problems that might otherwise have plagued us.

**"I was afraid… because, for, well, obvious reasons, I can't stay with you. And I'm afraid that I'd like to stay with you, much more than I should." I looked down at his hands as I spoke. It was difficult for me to say this aloud.**

Bella hummed quietly in the back of her throat, leaning over and placing her lips by my ear. "I suppose it's a good thing I got past that." I smiled. "I love you, Rosalie. I love you more than the morning sun and the evening stars. We may not be perfect, but we are perfect for each other and I cherish our love above all else," she murmured to me, quietly enough that only I would hear.

I shut my eyes, wishing that I had the ability to cry. "As I love you, Isabella. For decades I longed to be human again, wished that I had never become a vampire, but I could never wish that again, knowing that were it true I would be denied the chance to be with you," I whispered tenderly, every word true.

**"Yes," he agreed slowly. "That is something to be afraid of, indeed. Wanting to be with me. That's really not in your best interest."**

**I frowned.**

**"I should have left long ago," he sighed. "I should leave now. But I don't know if I can."**

**"I don't want you to leave," I mumbled pathetically, staring down again.**

**"Which is exactly why I should. But don't worry. I'm essentially a selfish creature. I crave your company too much to do what I should."**

**"I'm glad."**

**"Don't be!" He withdrew his hand, more gently this time; his voice was harsher than usual. Harsh for him, still more beautiful than any human voice. It was hard to keep up — his sudden mood changes left me always a step behind, dazed.**

**"It's not only your company I crave! Never forget that. Never forget I am more dangerous to you than I am to anyone else." He stopped, and I looked to see him gazing unseeingly into the forest.**

**I thought for a moment.**

**"I don't think I understand exactly what you mean — by that last part anyway," I said.**

**He looked back at me and smiled, his mood shifting yet again.**

Jasper hissed in annoyance. "I'm pretty sure that Bella was right about that whole multiple personality disorder, thing," he muttered in irritation, and I had to bite back a laugh.

**"How do I explain?" he mused. "And without frightening you again… hmmmm." Without seeming to think about it, he placed his hand back in mine; I held it tightly in both of mine. He looked at our hands.**

**"That's amazingly pleasant, the warmth." He sighed.**

**A moment passed as he assembled his thoughts.**

**"You know how everyone enjoys different flavors?" he began. "Some people love chocolate ice cream, others prefer strawberry?"**

**I nodded.**

**"Sorry about the food analogy — I couldn't think of another way to explain."**

Carlisle raised one eyebrow. "Really, son? A food analogy?" he asked in amusement and Edward nodded sheepishly.

"It was the only way that I could think of, to explain," he frowned.

**I smiled. He smiled ruefully back.**

**"You see, every person smells different, has a different essence. If you locked an alcoholic in a room full of stale beer, he'd gladly drink it. But he could resist, if he wished to, if he were a recovering alcoholic.** **Now let's say you placed in that room a glass of hundred-year-old brandy, the rarest, finest cognac — and filled the room with its warm aroma — how do you think he would fare then?"**

Alice shivered. "This is getting a little creepy," she complained.

**We sat silently, looking into each other's eyes — trying to read each other's thoughts.**

**He broke the silence first.**

**"Maybe that's not the right comparison. Maybe it would be too easy to turn down the brandy. Perhaps I should have made our alcoholic a heroin addict instead."**

**"So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood.**

**He smiled swiftly, seeming to appreciate my effort. "Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin."**

I shook my head. Really? I sighed. The boy really needed to work on his people skills if he was going to say things like that.

**"Does that happen often?" I asked.**

**He looked across the treetops, thinking through his response.**

**"I spoke to my brothers about it." He still stared into the distance. **

**"To Jasper, every one of you is much the same. He's the most recent to join our family. It's a struggle for him to abstain at all. He hasn't had time to grow sensitive to the differences in smell, in flavor." He glanced swiftly at me, his expression apologetic.**

Alice growled lowly, pulling Jasper into her arms. Edward grimaced. "Forgive me, Jasper, Alice. It was wrong of me to speak of such things without your consent. I never meant to belittle your struggle, Jasper, or insult your mate, Alice," he apologized and the pair nodded in acceptance of his apology.

**"Sorry," he said.**

**"I don't mind. Please don't worry about offending me, or frightening me, or whichever. That's the way you think. I can understand, or I can try to at least. Just explain however you can."**

**He took a deep breath and gazed at the sky again.**

**"So Jasper wasn't sure if he'd ever come across someone who was as" — he hesitated, looking for the right word — "appealing as you are to me. Which makes me think not. Emmett has been on the wagon longer, so to speak, and he understood what I meant. He says twice, for him, once stronger than the other."**

**"And for you?"**

**"Never."**

**The word hung there for a moment in the warm breeze.**

**"What did Emmett do?" I asked to break the silence.**

**It was the wrong question to ask. His face grew dark, his hand clenched into a fist inside mine. He looked away. I waited, but he wasn't going to answer.**

**"I guess I know," I finally said.**

Emmett frowned and Edward pulled him close. Bella smiled at him. "You learned from your mistakes, Emmett, and I know what you must be thinking. No, I wasn't ever truly afraid of you. How could I be afraid of my big Brother Bear?" she asked lightheartedly and he smiled a genuine smile, thanking her silently.

**He lifted his eyes; his expression was wistful, pleading.**

**"Even the strongest of us fall off the wagon, don't we?"**

**"What are you asking? My permission?" My voice was sharper than I'd intended. I tried to make my tone kinder — I could guess what his honesty must cost him. "I mean, is there no hope, then?" How calmly I could discuss my own death!**

"Bella!" The exclamation came from everyone but Edward, who obviously had a skewed view of such things himself. I turned to stare at my mate with incredulity, restraining myself from taking hold of her and hiding her away from anything even remotely dangerous.

She winced, hurriedly but still gently placing her hand upon my cheek. "I know, I know. It was wrong of me to think that way. There is always hope, I simply was too blind to see it, then," she apologized and I sighed, pulling her into my lap.

"Never think that way. I need you by my side, always," I murmured.

**"No, no!" He was instantly contrite. "Of course there's hope! I mean, of course I won't…" He left the sentence hanging. His eyes burned into mine. "It's different for us. Emmett… these were strangers he happened across. It was a long time ago, and he wasn't as… practiced, as careful, as he is now."**

**He fell silent and watched me intently as I thought it through.**

**"So if we'd met… oh, in a dark alley or something…" I trailed off.**

**"It took everything I had not to jump up in the middle of that class full of children and —" He stopped abruptly, looking away. "When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carlisle has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn't been denying my thirst for the last, well, too many years, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself." He paused, scowling at the trees.**

**He glanced at me grimly, both of us remembering. "You must have thought I was possessed."**

**"I couldn't understand why. How you could hate me so quickly…"**

**"To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me. The fragrance coming off your skin… I thought it would make me deranged that first day. In that one hour, I thought of a hundred different ways to lure you from the room with me, to get you alone. And I fought them each back, thinking of my family, what I could do to them. I had to run out, to get away before I could speak the words that would make you follow…"**

**He looked up then at my staggered expression as I tried to absorb his bitter memories. His golden eyes scorched from under his lashes, hypnotic and deadly.**

**"You would have come," he promised.**

**I tried to speak calmly. "Without a doubt."**

**He frowned down at my hands, releasing me from the force of his stare. "And then, as I tried to rearrange my schedule in a pointless attempt to avoid you, you were there — in that close, warm little room, the scent was maddening. I so very nearly took you then. There was only one other frail human there — so easily dealt with."**

**I shivered in the warm sun, seeing my memories anew through his eyes, only now grasping the danger.**

**Poor Ms. Cope; I shivered again at how close I'd come to being inadvertently responsible for her death.**

Esme smiled. "You are so very selfless, darling, but it's alright to worry for yourself every once in a while," she said gently and my mate nodded thoughtfully.

**"But I resisted. I don't know how. I forced myself not to wait for you, not to follow you from the school.** **It was easier outside, when I couldn't smell you anymore, to think clearly, to make the right decision. I left the others near home — I was too ashamed to tell them how weak I was, they only knew something was very wrong — and then I went straight to Carlisle, at the hospital, to tell him I was leaving."**

**I stared in surprise.**

**"I traded cars with him — he had a full tank of gas and I didn't want to stop. I didn't dare to go home, to face Esme. She wouldn't have let me go without a scene. She would have tried to convince me that it wasn't necessary…**

My mother smiled sadly. "Yes, I would have, but I would still have let you go when I saw that you were determined to go."

**"By the next morning I was in Alaska." He sounded ashamed, as if admitting a great cowardice. "I spent two days there, with some old acquaintances… but I was homesick. I hated knowing I'd upset Esme, and the rest of them, my adopted family. In the pure air of the mountains it was hard to believe you were so irresistible. I convinced myself it was weak to run away. I'd dealt with temptation before, not of this magnitude, not even close, but I was strong. Who were you, an insignificant little girl" — he grinned suddenly — "to chase me from the place I wanted to be? So I came back…" He stared off into space.**

**I couldn't speak.**

**"I took precautions, hunting, feeding more than usual before seeing you again. I was sure that I was strong enough to treat you like any other human. I was arrogant about it.**

"Aren't you always?" we all (other than Carlisle and Esme) asked him in unison and he scowled at us.

**"It was unquestionably a complication that I couldn't simply read your thoughts to know what your reaction was to me. I wasn't used to having to go to such circuitous measures, listening to your words in** **Jessica's mind… her mind isn't very original, and it was annoying to have to stoop to that. And then I couldn't know if you really meant what you said. It was all extremely irritating." He frowned at the memory.**

**"I wanted you to forget my behavior that first day, if possible, so I tried to talk with you like I would with any person. I was eager actually, hoping to decipher some of your thoughts. But you were too interesting,** **I found myself caught up in your expressions… and every now and then you would stir the air with your hand or your hair, and the scent would stun me again…**

**"Of course, then you were nearly crushed to death in front of my eyes. Later I thought of a perfectly** **good excuse for why I acted at that moment — because if I hadn't saved you, if your blood had been spilled there in front of me, I don't think I could have stopped myself from exposing us for what we are.**

**But I only thought of that excuse later. At the time, all I could think was, 'Not her.'"**

**He closed his eyes, lost in his agonized confession. I listened, more eager than rational. Common sense told me I should be terrified. Instead, I was relieved to finally understand. And I was filled with compassion for his suffering, even now, as he confessed his craving to take my life.**

Edward looked surprised. "That was what you were thinking?" he asked in shock before going on hesitantly. "Thank you. Before, even if you had told me, I wouldn't have believed but now… Well, thank you," he smiled.

**I finally was able to speak, though my voice was faint. "In the hospital?"**

**His eyes flashed up to mine. "I was appalled. I couldn't believe I had put us in danger after all, put myself in your power — you of all people. As if I needed another motive to kill you." We both flinched as that word slipped out. "But it had the opposite effect," he continued quickly. "I fought with Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper when they suggested that now was the time… the worst fight we've ever had. Carlisle sided with me, and Alice." He grimaced when he said her name. **

Alice hissed and I frowned. "Sorry," I murmured and she laughed lightly.

"I was never upset with you," she whispered back.

**I couldn't imagine why. "Esme told me to do whatever I had to in order to stay." He shook his head indulgently.**

**"All that next day I eavesdropped on the minds of everyone you spoke to, shocked that you kept your word. I didn't understand you at all. But I knew that I couldn't become more involved with you. I did my very best to stay as far from you as possible. And every day the perfume of your skin, your breath, your hair… it hit me as hard as the very first day."**

**He met my eyes again, and they were surprisingly tender.**

**"And for all that," he continued, "I'd have fared better if I had exposed us all at that first moment, than if now, here — with no witnesses and nothing to stop me — I were to hurt you."**

**I was human enough to have to ask. "Why?"**

Bella laughed easily. "Of course, being me, I would ask anyway to satisfy my curiosity. I'm not sure how, but somehow I managed to get that from you, Carlisle," she scowled playfully at him and his eyes lit up.

He chuckled. "That's a good thing, I hope?" he asked lovingly and she grinned, hopping up from my lap and crossing to kiss him on the cheek.

"Always, Daddy," she smiled before returning to my side.

**"Isabella." He pronounced my full name carefully, then playfully ruffled my hair with his free hand. A shock ran through my body at his casual touch. "Bella, I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you. You don't know how it's tortured me." He looked down, ashamed again. "The thought of you, still, white, cold… to never see you blush scarlet again, to never see that flash of intuition in your eyes when you see through my pretenses… it would be unendurable." He lifted his glorious, agonized eyes to mine. "You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever."**

**My head was spinning at the rapid change in direction our conversation had taken. From the cheerful topic of my impending demise, we were suddenly declaring ourselves. He waited, and even though I looked down to study our hands between us, I knew his golden eyes were on me. "You already know how I feel, of course," I finally said. "I'm here… which, roughly translated, means I would rather die than stay away from you." I frowned. "I'm an idiot."**

**"You are an idiot," he agreed with a laugh. Our eyes met, and I laughed, too. We laughed together at the idiocy and sheer impossibility of such a moment.**

**"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb…" he murmured. I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.**

**"What a stupid lamb," I sighed.**

**"What a sick, masochistic lion." He stared into the shadowy forest for a long moment, and I wondered where his thoughts had taken him.**

**"Why… ?" I began, and then paused, not sure how to continue.**

**He looked at me and smiled; sunlight glinted off his face, his teeth.**

**"Yes?"**

**"Tell me why you ran from me before."**

**His smile faded. "You know why."**

**"No, I mean, exactly what did I do wrong? I'll have to be on my guard, you see, so I better start learning what I shouldn't do. This, for example" — I stroked the back of his hand — "seems to be all right."**

"That was a very good idea," Carlisle complimented and Bella grinned at the pride in his voice; I did, too.

**He smiled again. "You didn't do anything wrong, Bella. It was my fault."**

**"But I want to help, if I can, to not make this harder for you."**

**"Well…" He contemplated for a moment. "It was just how close you were. Most humans instinctively shy away from us, are repelled by our alienness… I wasn't expecting you to come so close. And the smell of your throat." He stopped short, looking to see if he'd upset me.**

**"Okay, then," I said flippantly, trying to alleviate the suddenly tense atmosphere. I tucked my chin. "No throat exposure."**

Emmett grinned widely. "Nice one, little sis," he laughed.

**It worked; he laughed. "No, really, it was more the surprise than anything else."**

**He raised his free hand and placed it gently on the side of my neck. I sat very still, the chill of his touch a natural warning — a warning telling me to be terrified. But there was no feeling of fear in me. There were, however, other feelings…**

**"You see," he said. "Perfectly fine."**

**My blood was racing, and I wished I could slow it, sensing that this must make everything so much more difficult — the thudding of my pulse in my veins. Surely he could hear it.**

**"The blush on your cheeks is lovely," he murmured. He gently freed his other hand. My hands fell limply into my lap. Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands.**

**"Be very still," he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen.**

**Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat. I was quite unable to move, even if I'd wanted to. I listened to the sound of his even breathing, watching the sun and wind play in his bronze hair, more human than any other part of him.**

**With deliberate slowness, his hands slid down the sides of my neck. I shivered, and I heard him catch his breath. But his hands didn't pause as they softly moved to my shoulders, and then stopped.** **His face drifted to the side, his nose skimming across my collarbone. He came to rest with the side of his face pressed tenderly against my chest.**

I hissed, pulling Bella closer to me. Emmett glared at Edward, also, while both Bella and Edward held us closer, trying to soothe our momentary jealousy.

**Listening to my heart.**

**"Ah," he sighed.**

**I don't know how long we sat without moving. It could have been hours. Eventually the throb of my pulse quieted, but he didn't move or speak again as he held me. I knew at any moment it could be too much, and my life could end — so quickly that I might not even notice. And I couldn't make myself be afraid. I couldn't think of anything, except that he was touching me.**

**And then, too soon, he released me.**

**His eyes were peaceful.**

**"It won't be so hard again," he said with satisfaction.**

**"Was that very hard for you?"**

**"Not nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. And you?"**

**"No, it wasn't bad… for me."**

I growled and kissed Bella fiercely. She didn't resist me despite her surprise and her lips moved with mine in a passionate kiss. When we pulled back I leaned close to her. "You're mine," I growled lowly and she nodded silently.

**He smiled at my inflection. "You know what I mean."**

**I smiled.**

**"Here." He took my hand and placed it against his cheek. "Do you feel how warm it is?"**

**And it was almost warm, his usually icy skin. But I barely noticed, for I was touching his face, something** **I'd dreamed of constantly since the first day I'd seen him.**

**"Don't move," I whispered.**

**No one could be still like Edward. He closed his eyes and became as immobile as stone, a carving under my hand.**

**I moved even more slowly than he had, careful not to make one unexpected move. I caressed his cheek, delicately stroked his eyelid, the purple shadow in the hollow under his eye. I traced the shape of his perfect nose, and then, so carefully, his flawless lips. His lips parted under my hand, and I could feel his cool breath on my fingertips. I wanted to lean in, to inhale the scent of him. So I dropped my hand and leaned away, not wanting to push him too far.**

**He opened his eyes, and they were hungry. Not in a way to make me fear, but rather to tighten the muscles in the pit of my stomach and send my pulse hammering through my veins again. **_**But I couldn't help but feel that something was missing…**_

**"I wish," he whispered, "I wish you could feel the… complexity… the confusion… I feel. That you could understand."**

**He raised his hand to my hair, then carefully brushed it across my face.**

**"Tell me," I breathed.**

**"I don't think I can. I've told you, on the one hand, the hunger — the thirst — that, deplorable creature that I am, I feel for you. And I think you can understand that, to an extent. Though" — he half-smiled — "as you are not addicted to any illegal substances, you probably can't empathize completely.**

**"But…" His fingers touched my lips lightly, making me shiver again. "There are other hungers. Hungers I don't even understand, that are foreign to me."**

**"I may understand that better than you think."**

**"I'm not used to feeling so human. Is it always like this?"**

**"For me?" I paused. "No, never. Never before this."**

**He held my hands between his. They felt so feeble in his iron strength. **

**"I don't know how to be close to you," he admitted. "I don't know if I can."**

**I leaned forward very slowly, cautioning him with my eyes. I placed my cheek against his stone chest. I could hear his breath, and nothing else.**

**"This is enough," I sighed, closing my eyes.**

**In a very human gesture, he put his arms around me and pressed his face against my hair.**

**"You're better at this than you give yourself credit for," I noted.**

**"I have human instincts — they may be buried deep, but they're there."**

**We sat like that for another immeasurable moment; I wondered if he could be as unwilling to move as I was… **_**While at the same time, I felt almost unbearably anxious to move away from here, as though something were missing.**_

"I was missing Rose. I just didn't realize it at the time," Bella said in response to Carlisle's curious look. I smiled at her as I took her hand in mine.

"Did you feel anything similar, Rose?" my father asked me.

I nodded. "I couldn't explain it, but at times I felt anxious, worried… Something was missing, I just didn't know what it was so I dismissed it," I explained and he nodded.

**But I could see the light was fading, the shadows of the forest beginning to touch us, and I sighed.**

**"You have to go."**

**"I thought you couldn't read my mind."**

**"It's getting clearer." I could hear a smile in his voice.**

**He took my shoulders and I looked into his face.**

**"Can I show you something?" he asked, sudden excitement flaring in his eyes.**

**"Show me what?"**

**"I'll show you how I travel in the forest."**

Bella hissed at Edward when he chuckled. The rest of us just watched in amusement.

**He saw my expression. "Don't worry, you'll be very safe, and we'll get to your truck much faster." His mouth twitched up into that crooked smile so beautiful my heart nearly stopped.**

**"Will you turn into a bat?" I asked warily.**

We all burst into laughter at that. It wasn't the most original joke, but we had never had cause to hear it before. Still, the whole modern idea of vampires was ridiculously pathetic.

**He laughed, louder than I'd ever heard. "Like I haven't heard that one before!"**

**"Right, I'm sure you get that all the time."**

**"Come on, little coward, climb on my back."**

**I waited to see if he was kidding, but, apparently, he meant it. He smiled as he read my hesitation, and reached for me. My heart reacted; even though he couldn't hear my thoughts, my pulse always gave me away. He then proceeded to sling me onto his back, with very little effort on my part, besides, when in place, clamping my legs and arms so tightly around him that it would choke a normal person. It was like clinging to a stone.**

**"I'm a bit heavier than your average backpack," I warned.**

Jasper snorted. "Yes, but he lifted a van, remember?" he asked sarcastically, a teasing glint in his eyes.

**"Hah!" he snorted. I could almost hear his eyes rolling. I'd never seen him in such high spirits before.**

**He startled me, suddenly grabbing my hand, pressing my palm to his face, and inhaling deeply.**

**"Easier all the time," he muttered.**

**And then he was running.**

**If I'd ever feared death before in his presence, it was nothing compared to how I felt now.**

**He streaked through the dark, thick underbrush of the forest like a bullet, like a ghost. There was no sound, no evidence that his feet touched the earth. His breathing never changed, never indicated any effort. But the trees flew by at deadly speeds, always missing us by inches.**

**I was too terrified to close my eyes, though the cool forest air whipped against my face and burned them.**

**I felt as if I were stupidly sticking my head out the window of an airplane in flight. And, for the first time in my life, I felt the dizzy faintness of motion sickness.**

**Then it was over. We'd hiked hours this morning to reach Edward's meadow, and now, in a matter of minutes, we were back to the truck.**

**"Exhilarating, isn't it?" His voice was high, excited.**

**He stood motionless, waiting for me to climb down. I tried, but my muscles wouldn't respond. My arms and legs stayed locked around him while my head spun uncomfortably.**

**"Bella?" he asked, anxious now.**

**"I think I need to lie down," I gasped.**

**"Oh, sorry." He waited for me, but I still couldn't move.**

**"I think I need help," I admitted.**

**He laughed quietly, and gently unloosened my stranglehold on his neck. There was no resisting the iron strength of his hands. Then he pulled me around to face him, cradling me in his arms like a small child. He held me for a moment, then carefully placed me on the springy ferns.**

**"How do you feel?" he asked.**

**I couldn't be sure how I felt when my head was spinning so crazily. "Dizzy, I think."**

**"Put your head between your knees."**

Carlisle nodded approvingly.

**I tried that, and it helped a little. I breathed in and out slowly, keeping my head very still. I felt him sitting beside me. The moments passed, and eventually I found that I could raise my head. There was a hollow ringing sound in my ears.**

**"I guess that wasn't the best idea," he mused.**

"Gee, you think?" Alice shook her head at him.

**I tried to be positive, but my voice was weak. "No, it was very interesting."**

**"Hah! You're as white as a ghost — no, you're as white as me!"**

**"I think I should have closed my eyes."**

**"Remember that next time."**

**"Next time!" I groaned.**

**He laughed, his mood still radiant.**

**"Show-off," I muttered.**

I snorted. "Always," I joked and he growled at me playfully.

**"Open your eyes, Bella," he said quietly.**

**And he was right there, his face so close to mine. His beauty stunned my mind — it was too much, an excess I couldn't grow accustomed to.**

**"I was thinking, while I was running…" He paused.**

**"About not hitting the trees, I hope."**

"Ha! Good one little sister!" Emmett chuckled.

**"Silly Bella," he chuckled. "Running is second nature to me, it's not something I have to think about."**

**"Show-off," I muttered again.**

**He smiled.**

**"No," he continued, "I was thinking there was something I wanted to try." And he took my face in his hands again.**

**I couldn't breathe.**

**He hesitated — not in the normal way, the human way.**

**Not the way a man might hesitate before he kissed a woman, to gauge her reaction, to see how he would be received. Perhaps he would hesitate to prolong the moment, that ideal moment of anticipation, sometimes better than the kiss itself.**

**Edward hesitated to test himself, to see if this was safe, to make sure he was still in control of his need.**

**And then his cold, marble lips pressed very softly against mine.**

**What neither of us was prepared for was my response.**

**Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips. My breath came in a wild gasp. My fingers knotted in his hair, clutching him to me. My lips parted as I breathed in his heady scent.**

Emmett, Alice, and Jasper burst into laughter and Bella groaned, hiding her face in my hair.

**Immediately I felt him turn to unresponsive stone beneath my lips. His hands gently, but with irresistible force, pushed my face back. I opened my eyes and saw his guarded expression.**

**"Oops," I breathed.**

**"That's an understatement."**

**His eyes were wild, his jaw clenched in acute restraint, yet he didn't lapse from his perfect articulation.**

**He held my face just inches from his. He dazzled my eyes.**

**"Should I… ?" I tried to disengage myself, to give him some room.**

**His hands refused to let me move so much as an inch.**

**"No, it's tolerable. Wait for a moment, please." His voice was polite, controlled.**

**I kept my eyes on his, watched as the excitement in them faded and gentled.**

**Then he smiled a surprisingly impish grin.**

I rolled my eyes. He could be so annoying sometimes.

**"There," he said, obviously pleased with himself.**

Arrogant bastard. He may be my brother and I love him, but his self-righteous attitude was a little trying at times.

**"Tolerable?" I asked.**

**He laughed aloud. "I'm stronger than I thought. It's nice to know."**

**"I wish I could say the same. I'm sorry."**

**"You are only human, after all."**

Everyone but Edward hissed. "That was uncalled for, Edward," I growled at him and he winced.

"I know. It was out of line," he apologized and I shook my head at him, motioning for Emmett to continue.

**"Thanks so much," I said, my voice acerbic.**

**He was on his feet in one of his lithe, almost invisibly quick movements. He held out his hand to me, an unexpected gesture. I was so used to our standard of careful non-contact. I took his icy hand, needing the support more than I thought. My balance had not yet returned.**

"As far as I know you never had balance to begin with!" Alice snorted.

**"Are you still faint from the run? Or was it my kissing expertise?" How lighthearted, how human he seemed as he laughed now, his seraphic face untroubled.**

**He was a different Edward than the one I had known. **_**It was just a bit unsettling, the quick shift. And again I saw it. Blonde. Blue. Gold.**_

**It would cause me physical pain to be separated from him now.**

**"I can't be sure, I'm still woozy," I managed to respond. "I think it's some of both, though."**

**"Maybe you should let me drive."**

**"Are you insane?" I protested.**

"Yes!" All of us 'kids' groaned in irritation.

**"I can drive better than you on your best day," he teased. "You have much slower reflexes."**

**"I'm sure that's true, but I don't think my nerves, or my truck, could take it."**

**"Some trust, please, Bella."**

**My hand was in my pocket, curled tightly around the key.**

**I pursed my lips, deliberated, then shook my head with a tight grin.**

**"Nope. Not a chance."**

**He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.**

I rolled my eyes. He was such a spoiled brat sometimes…

**I started to step around him, heading for the driver's side. He might have let me pass if I hadn't wobbled slightly. Then again, he might not have. His arm created an inescapable snare around my waist.**

**"Bella, I've already expended a great deal of personal effort at this point to keep you alive. I'm not about to let you behind the wheel of a vehicle when you can't even walk straight. Besides, friends don't let friends drive drunk," he quoted with a chuckle.**

**I could smell the unbearably sweet fragrance coming off his chest.**

**"Drunk?" I objected.**

**"You're intoxicated by my very presence." He was grinning that playful smirk again.**

"Idiot," Alice muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

**"I can't argue with that," I sighed. There was no way around it; I couldn't resist him in anything. I held the key high and dropped it, watching his hand flash like lightning to catch it soundlessly. "Take it easy — my truck is a senior citizen."**

**"Very sensible," he approved.**

**"And are you not affected at all?" I asked, irked. "By my presence?"**

**Again his mobile features transformed, his expression became soft, warm. He didn't answer at first; he simply bent his face to mine, and brushed his lips slowly along my jaw, from my ear to my chin, back and forth. I trembled.**

**"Regardless," he finally murmured, "I have better reflexes."**

"That was the end of the chapter," Emmett informed us before passing the book off to me.

I turned it to the next page and smiled at my mate before looking back to the book. "Well, here goes…"


	16. Mind Over Matter

**Chapter Sixteen: Mind Over Matter**

Rosalie

**Mind Over Matter **

**He could drive well, when he kept the speed reasonable, I had to admit. Like so many things, it seemed to be effortless to him. **

**He barely looked at the road, yet the tires never deviated so much as a centimeter from the center of the lane. He drove one-handed, holding my hand on the seat. Sometimes he gazed into the setting sun, sometimes he glanced at me — my face, my hair blowing out the open window, our hands twined together.**

**He had turned the radio to an oldies station, and he sang along with a song I'd never heard. He knew every line.**

**"You like fifties music?" I asked.**

**"Music in the fifties was good. Much better than the sixties, or the seventies, ugh!" He shuddered. "The eighties were bearable."**

We all agreed with that. I refused to even listen to any of the music in the sixties or seventies. Bella just smirked at us and I rolled my eyes at her.

**"Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?" I asked, tentative, not wanting to upset his buoyant humor.**

**"Does it matter much?" His smile, to my relief, remained unclouded.**

**"No, but I still wonder…" I grimaced. "There's nothing like an unsolved mystery to keep you up at night."**

**"I wonder if it will upset you," he reflected to himself. He gazed into the sun; the minutes passed.**

Jasper snorted. "After everything else, you really think finding out your age is going to scare her off?" he demanded incredulously. Our brother nodded sheepishly and I smirked, shaking my head at him.

**"Try me," I finally said.**

**He sighed, and then looked into my eyes, seeming to forget the road completely for a time. Whatever he saw there must have encouraged him. He looked into the sun — the light of the setting orb glittered off his skin in ruby-tinged sparkles — and spoke.**

**"I was born in Chicago in 1901." He paused and glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. My face was carefully unsurprised, patient for the rest. He smiled a tiny smile and continued. "Carlisle found me in a hospital in the summer of 1918. I was seventeen, and dying of the Spanish influenza."**

**He heard my intake of breath, though it was barely audible to my own ears. He looked down into my eyes again.**

**"I don't remember it well — it was a very long time ago, and human memories fade." He was lost in his thoughts for a short time before he went on. "I do remember how it felt, when Carlisle saved me. It's not an easy thing, not something you could forget."**

**"Your parents?"**

**"They had already died from the disease. I was alone. That was why he chose me. In all the chaos of the epidemic, no one would ever realize I was gone."**

Esme frowned at that. She hated to think of any of us hurt or in pain. As our mother, it was an impossible notion to her. She loved her family more than anything.

**"How did he… save you?"**

**A few seconds passed before he answered. He seemed to choose his words carefully.**

**"It was difficult. Not many of us have the restraint necessary to accomplish it. But Carlisle has always been the most humane, the most compassionate of us… I don't think you could find his equal throughout all of history." He paused. **

Carlisle shook his head modestly. "Thank you, son, but your control is something to be admired as well," he complimented him.

"**For me, it was merely very, very painful."**

**I could tell from the set of his lips, he would say no more on this subject. I suppressed my curiosity, though it was far from idle. There were many things I needed to think through on this particular issue, things that were only beginning to occur to me. No doubt his quick mind had already comprehended every aspect that eluded me.**

**His soft voice interrupted my thoughts. "He acted from loneliness. That's usually the reason behind the choice. I was the first in Carlisle's family, though he found Esme soon after. She fell from a cliff. They brought her straight to the hospital morgue, though, somehow, her heart was still beating."**

**"So you must be dying, then, to become…" We never said the word, and I couldn't frame it now.**

**"No, that's just Carlisle. He would never do that to someone who had another choice." The respect in his voice was profound whenever he spoke of his father figure. "It is easier he says, though," he continued, "if the blood is weak." He looked at the now-dark road, and I could feel the subject closing again.**

Esme frowned. "She had a right to know, Edward. From the minute that she realized what we all are and the two of you became involved, she had a right to know," she told him sternly and he grimaced but nodded.

"I am sorry, Bella. It should have been your decision. I just couldn't see it through my own views on what we are," Edward grimaced but Bella shook her head.

"It was my decision, but it all worked out in the end," she told him, smiling at me.

**"And Emmett and Rosalie?"**

**"Carlisle brought Rosalie to our family next. I didn't realize till much later that he was hoping she would be to me what Esme was to him —** **he was careful with his thoughts around me." He rolled his eyes. "But she was never more than a sister. It was only two years later that she found Emmett. She was hunting — we were in Appalachia at the time — and found a bear about to finish him off. **

**She carried him back to Carlisle, more than a hundred miles, afraid she wouldn't be able to do it herself. I'm only beginning to guess how difficult that journey was for her." He threw a pointed glance in my direction, and raised our hands, still folded together, to brush my cheek with the back of his hand.**

Edward smiled. "Thank you, Rose," he said, taking his mate's hand in his own.

I chuckled. "Well, you certainly repaid the favor, so why don't we call it even," I said, leaning over to kiss Bella's cheek.

**"But she made it," I encouraged, looking away from the unbearable beauty of his eyes.**

**"Yes," he murmured. "She saw something in his face that made her strong enough. And they've been together ever since. Sometimes they live separately from us, as a married couple. But the younger we pretend to be, the longer we can stay in any given place. Forks seemed perfect, so we all enrolled in high school." He laughed. "I suppose we'll have to go to their wedding in a few years, **_**again**_**."**

Bella nudged my arm and motioned for me to put the book down. I looked at her curiously as I did so. She moved swiftly to stand about a foot in front of me. "Rosalie Lillian Hale Cullen. I love you more than life itself. You are the sun, the moon, and the stars to me, and I will love you every day of forever and even after forever ends," she said seriously, a small smile on her face. She knelt down on one knee and pulled a ring box from her pocket, opening it to reveal a ring that was just as beautiful as the first that she had given me, as it was different from it. If it were possible, tears would have been rolling down my face. "Rosalie, will you marry me?" I could almost hear the 'again', when the corner of her mouth twitched up.

I couldn't help the small laugh that left my mouth. "Yes," I smiled widely and she grinned. I held out my left hand and she slipped it into place on my third finger. I stood and pulled her up, pulling her into a kiss so passionate that I wouldn't have noticed if the house burnt down around us.

When we pulled back, we were immediately surrounded by our family members. Esme was the first to pull each of us into a hug, a radiant smile on her face and a content light in her eyes as she observed our family together. Of course, the first thing Alice wanted to know was if she could plan the event.

Eventually, we all found our way back to our seats and I resumed reading from the comfortable position I held in my mate's lap.

**"Alice and Jasper?"**

**"Alice and Jasper are two very rare creatures. They both developed a conscience, as we refer to it, with no outside guidance. Jasper belonged to another… family, a **_**very **_**different kind of family. He became depressed, and he wandered on his own. Alice found him. Like me, she has certain gifts above and beyond the norm for our kind."**

**"Really?" I interrupted, fascinated. "But you said you were the only one who could hear people's thoughts."**

Alice wrinkled her nose. "Why would I want to hear people's thoughts? My gift is way better than that," she said smugly and we laughed at her while Edward pouted.

**"That's true. She knows other things. She **_**sees **_**things — things that might happen, things that are coming.** **But it's very subjective. The future isn't set in stone. Things change."**

**His jaw set when he said that, and his eyes darted to my face and away so quickly that I wasn't sure if I only imagined it.**

**"What kinds of things does she see?"**

**"She saw Jasper and knew that he was looking for her before he knew it himself. She saw Carlisle and our family, and they came together to find us. She's most sensitive to non-humans. She always sees, for example, when another group of our kind is coming near. And any threat they may pose."**

**"Are there a lot of… your kind?" I was surprised. How many of them could walk among us undetected?**

**"No, not many. But most won't settle in any one place. Only those like us, who've given up hunting you people" — a sly glance in my direction — "can live together with humans for any length of time. We've only found one other family like ours, in a small village in Alaska. We lived together for a time, but there were so many of us that we became too noticeable.** **Those of us who live… differently tend to band together."**

**"And the others?"**

**"Nomads, for the most part. We've all lived that way at times. It gets tedious, like anything else. But we run across the others now and then, because most of us prefer the North."**

**"Why is that?"**

**We were parked in front of my house now, and he'd turned off the truck. It was very quiet and dark; there was no moon. The porch light was off so I knew my father wasn't home yet.**

**"Did you have your eyes open this afternoon?" he teased.**

We all laughed and I could almost feel Bella rolling her eyes from where her head rested on my shoulder, her arms around my waist as I sat in her lap, leaning back against her.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," she grumbled jokingly.

**"Do you think I could walk down the street in the sunlight without causing traffic accidents? There's a reason why we chose the Olympic Peninsula, one of the most sunless places in the world. It's nice to be able to go outside in the day. You wouldn't believe how tired you can get of nighttime in eighty-odd years."**

**"So that's where the legends came from?"**

**"Probably."**

**"And Alice came from another family, like Jasper?"**

Everyone frowned at that. Alice knew her past now, but I knew that even she would agree that it wasn't worth the price that came with it. James could have killed Bella in that ballet studio. It was so close…

**"No, and that **_**is **_**a mystery. Alice doesn't remember her human life at all. And she doesn't know who created her. She awoke alone. Whoever made her walked away, and none of us understand why, or how, he could. If she hadn't had that other sense, if she hadn't seen Jasper and Carlisle and known that she would someday become one of us, she probably would have turned into a total savage."**

Alice rolled her eyes. "I feel so loved," she said sarcastically and Edward apologized.

**There was so much to think through, so much I still wanted to ask. But, to my great embarrassment, my stomach growled.**

I**'d been so intrigued, I hadn't even noticed I was hungry. I realized now that I was ravenous.**

**"I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from dinner."**

**"I'm fine, really."**

**"I've never spent much time around anyone who eats food. I forget."**

**"I want to stay with you." It was easier to say in the darkness, knowing as I spoke how my voice would betray me, my hopeless addiction to him.**

**"Can't I come in?" he asked.**

**"Would you like to?" I couldn't picture it, this godlike creature sitting in my father's shabby kitchen chair.**

**"Yes, if it's all right." I heard the door close quietly, and almost simultaneously he was outside my door, opening it for me.**

**"Very human," I complimented him.**

**"It's definitely resurfacing."**

**He walked beside me in the night, so quietly I had to peek at him constantly to be sure he was still there.**

**In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon.**

**He reached the door ahead of me and opened it for me. I paused halfway through the frame.**

**"The door was unlocked?"**

**"No, I used the key from under the eave."**

**I stepped inside, flicked on the porch light, and turned to look at him with my eyebrows raised. I was sure I'd never used that key in front of him.**

I grimaced and Esme frowned. We all knew that he had been spying on her, stalking her. I never said anything before because I honestly didn't care at that time, but it was disgusting and disturbing.

**"I was curious about you."**

**"You spied on me?" But somehow I couldn't infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I was flattered. **_**I just couldn't help but feel a certain disappointment that he was the one to spy on me. Something was missing – I just didn't know what it was…**_

**He was unrepentant. "What else is there to do at night?"**

**I let it go for the moment and went down the hall to the kitchen. He was there before me, needing no guide. He sat in the very chair I'd tried to picture him in. His beauty lit up the kitchen. It was a moment before I could look away.**

**I concentrated on getting my dinner, taking last night's lasagna from the fridge, placing a square on a plate, heating it in the microwave. It revolved, filling the kitchen with the smell of tomatoes and oregano. I didn't take my eyes from the plate of food as I spoke.**

**"How often?" I asked casually.**

**"Hmmm?" He sounded as if I had pulled him from some other train of thought.**

**I still didn't turn around. "How often did you come here?"**

**"I come here almost every night."**

**I whirled, stunned. "Why?"**

**"You're interesting when you sleep." He spoke matter-of-factly. "You talk."**

Bella shivered. "I always hated that," she muttered and I grinned. I imagined I would hate it, too. I had a big thing about privacy and to know that every night when she went to sleep there was no telling what she would say…

**"No!" I gasped, heat flooding my face all the way to my hairline. I gripped the kitchen counter for support. I knew I talked in my sleep, of course; my mother teased me about it. I hadn't thought it was something I needed to worry about here, though.**

**His expression shifted instantly to chagrin. "Are you very angry with me?"**

**"That depends!" I felt and sounded like I'd had the breath knocked out of me.**

**He waited.**

**"On?" he urged.**

**"What you heard!" I wailed.**

**Instantly, silently, he was at my side, taking my hands carefully in his.**

**"Don't be upset!" he pleaded. He dropped his face to the level of my eyes, holding my gaze. I was embarrassed. I tried to look away.**

**"You miss your mother," he whispered. "You worry about her. And when it rains, the sound makes you restless. You used to talk about home a lot, but it's less often now. Once you said, 'It's too **_**green.'" **_**He laughed softly, hoping, I could see, not to offend me further.**

**"Anything else?" I demanded.**

**He knew what I was getting at. "You did say my name," he admitted.**

**I sighed in defeat. "A lot?"**

**"How much do you mean by 'a lot,' exactly?"**

Emmett rolled his eyes at his mate. "Yeah," he snorted. "That's really a great way to keep her from being mad at you or getting upset," he teased and Edward smiled sheepishly.

**"Oh no!" I hung my head.**

**He pulled me against his chest, softly, naturally.**

**"Don't be self-conscious," he whispered in my ear. "If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I'm not ashamed of it."**

**Then we both heard the sound of tires on the brick driveway, saw the headlights flash through the front windows, down the hall to us. I stiffened in his arms.**

**"Should your father know I'm here?" he asked.**

**"I'm not sure…" I tried to think it through quickly.**

**"Another time then…"**

**And I was alone.**

**"Edward!" I hissed.**

**I heard a ghostly chuckle, then nothing else.**

**My father's key turned in the door.**

**"Bella?" he called. It had bothered me before; who else would it be? Suddenly he didn't seem so far off base.**

**"In here." I hoped he couldn't hear the hysterical edge to my voice. I grabbed my dinner from the microwave and sat at the table as he walked in. His footsteps sounded so noisy after my day with Edward.**

We all chuckled. Those would be the pitfalls of being human and being surrounded by supernatural creatures. Everything was up in the air and there was never really any telling what might happen.

**"Can you get me some of that? I'm bushed." He stepped on the heels of his boots to take them off, holding the back of Edward's chair for support.**

**I took my food with me, scarfing it down as I got his dinner. It burned my tongue. I filled two glasses with milk while his lasagna was heating, and gulped mine to put out the fire. As I set the glass down, I noticed the milk trembling and realized my hand was shaking. Charlie sat in the chair, and the contrast between him and its former occupant was comical.**

**"Thanks," he said as I placed his food on the table.**

**"How was your day?" I asked. The words were rushed; I was dying to escape to my room.**

**"Good. The fish were biting… how about you? Did you get everything done that you wanted to?"**

**"Not really — it was too nice out to stay indoors." I took another big bite.**

**"It was a nice day," he agreed. What an understatement, I thought to myself.**

**Finished with the last bite of lasagna, I lifted my glass and chugged the remains of my milk.**

**Charlie surprised me by being observant. "In a hurry?"**

Carlisle chuckled. "He was bound to realize sometime. If you were anything like Edward then it was beyond obvious that something major had changed," he pointed out.

**"Yeah, I'm tired. I'm going to bed early."**

**"You look kinda keyed up," he noted. Why, oh why, did this have to be his night to pay attention?**

**"Do I?" was all I could manage in response. I quickly scrubbed my dishes clean in the sink, and placed them upside down on a dish towel to dry.**

**"It's Saturday," he mused.**

**I didn't respond.**

**"No plans tonight?" he asked suddenly.**

Edward grimaced. "He thought you were going out to meet a guy. He was thinking specifically of Mike Newton," he revealed and all of us 'kids' shuddered at the thought.

**"No, Dad, I just want to get some sleep."**

**"None of the boys in town your type, eh?" He was suspicious, but trying to play it cool.**

**"No, none of the boys have caught my eye yet." I was careful not to over-emphasize the word **_**boys **_**in my quest to be truthful with Charlie.**

**"I thought maybe that Mike Newton… you said he was friendly."**

**"****He's**_** just **_**a friend, Dad."**

**"Well, you're too good for them all, anyway. Wait till you get to college to start looking." Every father's dream, that his daughter will be out of the house before the hormones kick in.**

**"Sounds like a good idea to me," I agreed as I headed up the stairs.**

I smirked. "And how did that work out for you?" I whispered, so that Bella would the only one to hear me.

She kissed the side of my neck. "For you? I would have done anything, before, during, or after going to college," she murmured and I kissed her quickly before going back to the book.

**"'Night, honey," he called after me. No doubt he would be listening carefully all evening, waiting for me to try to sneak out.**

**"See you in the morning, Dad." See you creeping into my room tonight at midnight to check on me.**

Everyone burst into laughter. That sounded about right. Too bad that Charlie would never catch them no matter how many times he went in to check on her…

**I worked to make my tread sound slow and tired as I walked up the stairs to my room. I shut the door loud enough for him to hear, and then sprinted on my tiptoes to the window. I threw it open and leaned out into the night. My eyes scanned the darkness, the impenetrable shadows of the trees.**

**"Edward?" I whispered, feeling completely idiotic.**

**The quiet, laughing response came from behind me. "Yes?"**

**I whirled, one hand flying to my throat in surprise.**

**He lay, smiling hugely, across my bed, his hands behind his head, his feet dangling off the end, the picture of ease.**

**"Oh!" I breathed, sinking unsteadily to the floor.**

**"I'm sorry." **

**He pressed his lips together, trying to hide his amusement.**

**"Just give me a minute to restart my heart."**

**He sat up slowly, so as not to startle me again. Then he leaned forward and reached out with his long arms to pick me up, gripping the tops of my arms like I was a toddler. He sat me on the bed beside him.**

**"Why don't you sit with me," he suggested, putting a cold hand on mine. "How's the heart?"**

**"You tell me — I'm sure you hear it better than I do."**

**I felt his quiet laughter shake the bed.**

**We sat there for a moment in silence, both listening to my heartbeat slow. I thought about having Edward in my room, with my father in the house.**

Emmett chose that moment to put on a shocked, panicked look. "Oh no! Guys! We all have to get separate houses!" he said adamantly while we all stared at him.

"What?" he demanded. "We can't all stay in this house! Our parents will hear us!" he panicked again. We all exchanged a look that clearly stated 'is he serious?'.

Then we laughed at him for a long time until Jasper finally calmed us all down.

**"Can I have a minute to be human?" I asked.**

**"Certainly." He gestured with one hand that I should proceed.**

**"Stay," I said, trying to look severe.**

**"Yes, ma'am." And he made a show of becoming a statue on the edge of my bed.**

**I hopped up, grabbing my pajamas from off the floor, my bag of toiletries off the desk. I left the light off and slipped out, closing the door.**

**I could hear the sound from the TV rising up the stairs. I banged the bathroom door loudly, so Charlie wouldn't come up to bother me.**

**I meant to hurry. I brushed my teeth fiercely, trying to be thorough **_**and **_**speedy, removing all traces of lasagna. But the hot water of the shower couldn't be rushed. It unknotted the muscles in my back, calmed my pulse. The familiar smell of my shampoo made me feel like I might be the same person I had been this morning. I tried not to think of Edward, sitting in my room, waiting, because then I had to start all over with the calming process. **

**Finally, I couldn't delay anymore. I shut off the water, toweling hastily, rushing again. I pulled on my holey t-shirt and gray sweatpants.**

**Too late to regret not packing the Victoria's Secret silk pajamas my mother got me two birthdays ago, which still had the tags on them in a drawer somewhere back home.**

**I rubbed the towel through my hair again, and then yanked the brush through it quickly. I threw the towel in the hamper, flung my brush and toothpaste into my bag. Then I dashed down the stairs so Charlie could see that I was in my pajamas, with wet hair.**

**"'Night, Dad."**

**"'Night, Bella." He did look startled by my appearance. Maybe that would keep him from checking on me tonight.**

Carlisle and Esme exchanged an amused glance. "Not a chance," they said in unison.

**I took the stairs two at a time, trying to be quiet, and flew into my room, closing the door tightly behind me.**

**Edward hadn't moved a fraction of an inch, a carving of Adonis perched on my faded quilt. I smiled, and his lips twitched, the statue coming to life.**

**His eyes appraised me, taking in the damp hair, the tattered shirt. He raised one eyebrow. "Nice."**

**I grimaced.**

**"No, it looks good on you."**

**"Thanks," I whispered. I went back to his side, sitting cross-legged beside him. I looked at the lines in the wooden floor.**

**"What was all that for?"**

**"Charlie thinks I'm sneaking out."**

**"Oh." He contemplated that. "Why?" As if he couldn't know Charlie's mind much more clearly than I could guess.**

"I definitely had a better grasp of it than you did, but his mind was very foggy! I think it might be the Swan genes!" Edward corrected her, frowning. We all chuckled. He always was bothered by that. Of course, now Bella was training him to get used to not always having the benefit of his gift, so…

**"Apparently, I look a little overexcited."**

**He lifted my chin, examining my face.**

**"You look very warm, actually."**

**He bent his face slowly to mine, laying his cool cheek against my skin. I held perfectly still.**

**"Mmmmmm…" he breathed.**

**It was very difficult, while he was touching me, to frame a coherent question. It took me a minute of scattered concentration to begin.**

**"It seems to be… much easier for you, now, to be close to me."**

**"Does it seem that way to you?" he murmured, his nose gliding to the corner of my jaw. I felt his hand, lighter than a moth's wing, brushing my damp hair back, so that his lips could touch the hollow beneath my ear.**

**"Much, much easier," I said, trying to exhale.**

**"Hmm."**

**"So I was wondering…" I began again, but his fingers were slowly tracing my collarbone, and I lost my train of thought.**

**"Yes?" he breathed.**

**"Why is that," my voice shook, embarrassing me, "do you think?"**

**I felt the tremor of his breath on my neck as he laughed. "Mind over matter."**

**I pulled back; as I moved, he froze — and I could no longer hear the sound of his breathing.**

**We stared cautiously at each other for a moment, and then, as his clenched jaw gradually relaxed, his expression became puzzled.**

**"Did I do something wrong?"**

**"No — the opposite. You're driving me crazy," I explained.**

**He considered that briefly, and when he spoke, he sounded pleased. "Really?" A triumphant smile slowly lit his face.**

**"Would you like a round of applause?" I asked sarcastically.**

**He grinned.**

**"I'm just pleasantly surprised," he clarified. "In the last hundred years or so," his voice was teasing, "I never imagined anything like this. I didn't believe I would ever find someone I wanted to be with… in another way than my brothers and sisters. And then to find, even though it's all new to me, that I'm good at it… at being with you…"**

**"You're good at everything," I pointed out.**

**He shrugged, allowing that, and we both laughed in whispers.**

**"But how can it be so easy now?" I pressed. "This afternoon…"**

**"It's not **_**easy**_**," he sighed. "But this afternoon, I was still… undecided. I am sorry about that, it was unforgivable for me to behave so."**

**"Not unforgivable," I disagreed.**

**"Thank you." He smiled. "You see," he continued, looking down now, "I wasn't sure if I was strong enough…" He picked up one of my hands and pressed it lightly to his face. "And while there was still that possibility that I might be… overcome" — he breathed in the scent at my wrist — "I was… susceptible. Until I made up my mind that I **_**was **_**strong enough, that there was no possibility at all that I would… that I ever could…"**

**I'd never seen him struggle so hard for words. It was so… human.**

**"So there's no possibility now?"**

**"Mind over matter," he repeated, smiling, his teeth bright even in the darkness.**

**"Wow, that was easy," I said.**

**He threw back his head and laughed, quietly as a whisper, but still exuberantly.**

**"Easy for **_**you**_**!" he amended, touching my nose with his fingertip.**

**And then his face was abruptly serious.**

**"I'm trying," he whispered, his voice pained. "If it gets to be… too much, I'm fairly sure I'll be able to leave."**

"Do you understand, now?" I paused when Bella said that. We all appeared confused by her question.

Edward hesitated. "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

"Do you understand that you can't run from your problems? That you can't just make all the decisions without any input from anyone else? That you're not God and I had a right to be aware that you were even thinking about making a decision that would affect me so much? That just because you're a vampire and I was human didn't mean that you should have total control over our entire relationship?"

We were all stunned into silence, particularly by that last part. We had never thought of it like that. Edward looked down in shame before taking a deep breath and raising his head to meet Bella's eyes determinedly. "I understand," he said seriously and I felt her nod against my shoulder.

**I scowled. I didn't like the talk of leaving.**

**"And it will be harder tomorrow," he continued. "I've had the scent of you in my head all day, and I've grown amazingly desensitized. If I'm away from you for any length of time, I'll have to start over again. Not quite from scratch, though, I think."**

**"Don't go away, then," I responded, unable to hide the longing in my voice.**

**"That suits me," he replied, his face relaxing into a gentle smile. "Bring on the shackles — I'm your prisoner." But his long hands formed manacles around **_**my **_**wrists as he spoke.**

**He laughed his quiet, musical laugh. He'd laughed more tonight than I'd ever heard in all the time I'd spent with him.**

**"You seem more… optimistic than usual," I observed. "I haven't seen you like this before."**

**"Isn't it supposed to be like this?" He smiled. "The glory of first love, and all that. It's incredible, isn't it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it?"**

**"Very different," I agreed. "More forceful than I'd imagined."**

**"For example" — his words flowed swiftly now, I had to concentrate to catch it all — "the emotion of jealousy. I've read about it a hundred thousand times, seen actors portray it in a thousand different plays and movies. I believed I understood that one pretty clearly. But it shocked me…" He grimaced. "Do you remember the day that Mike asked you to the dance?"**

**I nodded, though I remembered that day for a different reason. "The day you started talking to me again."**

**"I was surprised by the flare of resentment, almost fury, that I felt — I didn't recognize what it was at first. I was even more aggravated than usual that I couldn't know what you were thinking, why you refused him. Was it simply for your friend's sake? Was there someone else? I knew I had no right to care either way. I **_**tried **_**not to care.**

**"And then the line started forming," he chuckled. I scowled in the darkness.**

**"I waited, unreasonably anxious to hear what you would say to them, to watch your expressions. I couldn't deny the relief I felt, watching the annoyance on your face. But I couldn't be sure.**

**"That was the first night I came here. I wrestled all night, while watching you sleep, with the chasm between what I knew was **_**right**_**, moral, ethical, and what I **_**wanted**_**. I knew that if I continued to ignore you as I should, or if I left for a few years, till you were gone, that someday you would say yes to Mike, or someone like him. It made me angry.**

**"And then," he whispered, "as you were sleeping, you said my name. You spoke so clearly, at first I thought you'd woken. But you rolled over restlessly and mumbled my name once more, and sighed. The feeling that coursed through me then was unnerving, staggering. And I knew I couldn't ignore you any longer." He was silent for a moment, probably listening to the suddenly uneven pounding of my heart.**

**"But jealousy… it's a strange thing. So much more powerful than I would have thought. And irrational! Just now, when Charlie asked you about that vile Mike Newton…" He shook his head angrily.**

**"I should have known you'd be listening," I groaned.**

**"Of course."**

**"**_**That **_**made you feel jealous, though, really?"**

**"I'm new at this; you're resurrecting the human in me, and everything feels stronger because it's fresh."**

**"But honestly," I teased, "for that to bother you, after I have to hear that Rosalie — Rosalie, the incarnation of pure beauty, **_**Rosalie **_**—**

I couldn't help stopping to kiss my mate passionately as I read that. "You really think that?" I asked unsteadily.

She smiled at me softly. "More than ever before. Every time you smile at me, it hits me all over again. You're beautiful, Rose. Inside and out," she murmured.

**was meant for you. Emmett or no Emmett, how can I compete with that?"**

**"There's no competition."**

**His teeth gleamed. He drew my trapped hands around his back, holding me to his chest. I kept as still as I could, even breathing with caution.**

**"I **_**know **_**there's no competition," I mumbled into his cold skin. "That's the problem."**

**"Of course Rosalie **_**is **_**beautiful in her way, but even if she wasn't like a sister to me, even if Emmett didn't belong with her, she could never have one tenth, no, one hundredth of the attraction you hold for me." He was serious now, thoughtful.**

**"For almost ninety years I've walked among my kind, and yours… all the time thinking I was complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you weren't alive yet."**

**"It hardly seems fair," I whispered, my face still resting on his chest, listening to his breath come and go. "I haven't had to wait at all. Why should I get off so easily?"**

**"You're right," he agreed with amusement. "I should make this harder for you, definitely." He freed one of his hands, released my wrist, only to gather it carefully into his other hand. He stroked my wet hair softly, from the top of my head to my waist. "You only have to risk your life every second you spend with me, that's surely not much. You only have to turn your back on nature, on humanity… what's that worth?"**

**"Very little — I don't feel deprived of anything."**

**"Not yet." And his voice was abruptly full of ancient grief.**

**I tried to pull back, to look in his face, but his hand locked my wrists in an unbreakable hold.**

**"What —" I started to ask, when his body became alert. I froze, but he suddenly released my hands, and disappeared. I narrowly avoided falling on my face.**

**"Lie down!" he hissed. I couldn't tell where he spoke from in the darkness.**

**I rolled under my quilt, balling up on my side, the way I usually slept. I heard the door crack open, as** **Charlie peeked in to make sure I was where I was supposed to be. I breathed evenly, exaggerating the movement.**

We all laughed at Bella's poor acting skills when she was human.

**A long minute passed. I listened, not sure if I'd heard the door close. Then Edward's cool arm was around me, under the covers, his lips at my ear.**

**"You are a terrible actress — I'd say that career path is out for you."**

**"Darn it," I muttered. My heart was crashing in my chest.**

**He hummed a melody I didn't recognize; it sounded like a lullaby.**

**He paused. "Should I sing you to sleep?"**

**"Right," I laughed. "Like I could sleep with you here!"**

**"You do it all the time," he reminded me.**

**"But I didn't **_**know **_**you were here," I replied icily.**

**"So if you don't want to sleep…" he suggested, ignoring my tone. My breath caught.**

**"If I don't want to sleep… ?"**

**He chuckled. "What do you want to do then?"**

**I couldn't answer at first.**

Bella and Edward groaned and I resolved to read this next part quickly.

**"I'm not sure," I finally said.**

**"Tell me when you decide."**

**I could feel his cool breath on my neck, feel his nose sliding along my jaw, inhaling.**

**"I thought you were desensitized."**

**"Just because I'm resisting the wine doesn't mean I can't appreciate the bouquet," he whispered. "You have a very floral smell, like lavender… or freesia," he noted. "It's mouthwatering."**

**"Yeah, it's an off day when I don't get **_**somebody **_**telling me how edible I smell."**

**He chuckled, and then sighed.**

**"I've decided what I want to do," I told him. "I want to hear more about you."**

**"Ask me anything."**

**I sifted through my questions for the most vital. "Why do you do it?" I said. "I still don't understand how you can work so hard to resist what you… **_**are**_**. Please don't misunderstand, of course I'm glad that you do. I just don't see why you would bother in the first place."**

Carlisle smiled. "That's a very good question," he agreed.

**He hesitated before answering. "That's a good question, and you are not the first one to ask it. The others — the majority of our kind who are quite content with our lot — they, too, wonder at how we live. But you see, just because we've been… dealt a certain hand… it doesn't mean that we can't choose to rise above — to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can."**

**I lay unmoving, locked in awed silence.**

**"Did you fall asleep?" he whispered after a few minutes.**

**"No."**

**"Is that all you were curious about?"**

**I rolled my eyes. "Not quite."**

**"What else do you want to know?"**

**"Why can you read minds — why only you? And Alice, seeing the future… why does that happen?"**

**I felt him shrug in the darkness. "We don't really know. Carlisle has a theory… he believes that we all bring something of our strongest human traits with us into the next life, where they are intensified — like our minds, and our senses. He thinks that I must have already been very sensitive to the thoughts of those around me. And that Alice had some precognition, wherever she was."**

**"What did he bring into the next life, and the others?"**

**"Carlisle brought his compassion. Esme brought her ability to love passionately. Emmett brought his strength, Rosalie her… tenacity. Or you could call it pigheadedness." he chuckled.**

Bella and I hissed and he held his hands up in surrender.

_**I didn't like the way that he talked about Rosalie. Something about it just felt… wrong to me.**_

I smiled and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, baby."

**"Jasper is very interesting. He was quite charismatic in his first life, able to influence those around him to see things his way. Now he is able to manipulate the emotions of those around him — calm down a room of angry people, for example, or excite a lethargic crowd, conversely. It's a very subtle gift."**

**I considered the impossibilities he described, trying to take it in. He waited patiently while I thought.**

**"So where did it all start? I mean, Carlisle changed you, and then someone must have changed him, and so on…"**

**"Well, where did you come from? Evolution? Creation? Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that all this world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both our kinds together?"**

**"Let me get this straight — I'm the baby seal, right?"**

**"Right." He laughed, and something touched my hair — his lips?**

**I wanted to turn toward him, to see if it was really his lips against my hair. But I had to be good; I didn't want to make this any harder for him than it already was.**

**"Are you ready to sleep?" he asked, interrupting the short silence. "Or do you have any more questions?"**

**"Only a million or two."**

**"We have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…" he reminded me. I smiled, euphoric at the thought.**

**"Are you sure you won't vanish in the morning?" I wanted this to be certain. "You are mythical, after all."**

**"I won't leave you." His voice had the seal of a promise in it.**

We all flinched at that. The only reason I wasn't still furious with him for that is because it's what really led me to realize my true feelings for Bella.

**"One more, then, tonight…" And I blushed. The darkness was no help — I'm sure he could feel the sudden warmth under my skin.**

**"What is it?"**

**"No, forget it. I changed my mind."**

**"Bella, you can ask me anything."**

**I didn't answer, and he groaned.**

**"I keep thinking it will get less frustrating, not hearing your thoughts. But it just gets worse and **_**worse**_**."**

**"I'm glad you can't read my thoughts. It's bad enough that you eavesdrop on my sleep-talking."**

**"Please?" His voice was so persuasive, so impossible to resist.**

**I shook my head.**

**"If you don't tell me, I'll just assume it's something much worse than it is," he threatened darkly. "Please?"**

**Again, that pleading voice.**

**"Well," I began, glad that he couldn't see my face.**

**"Yes?"**

**"You said that Rosalie and Emmett will get married soon… Is that… marriage… the same as it is for humans?"**

**He laughed in earnest now, understanding. "Is **_**that **_**what you're getting at?"**

**I fidgeted, unable to answer.**

**"Yes, I suppose it is much the same," he said. "I told you, most of those human desires are there, just hidden behind more powerful desires."**

**"Oh," was all I could say.**

**"Was there a purpose behind your curiosity?"**

**"Well, I did wonder… about you and me… someday…"**

**He was instantly serious, I could tell by the sudden stillness of his body. I froze, too, reacting automatically.**

**"I don't think that… that… would be possible for us."**

**"Because it would be too hard for you, if I were that… close?"**

**"That's certainly a problem. But that's not what I was thinking of. It's just that you are so soft, so fragile. I have to mind my actions every moment that we're together so that I don't hurt you. I could kill you quite easily, Bella, simply by accident." His voice had become just a soft murmur. He moved his icy palm to rest it against my cheek. "If I was too hasty… if for one second I wasn't paying enough attention, I could reach out, meaning to touch your face, and crush your skull by mistake. You don't realize how incredibly **_**breakable **_**you are. I can never, never afford to lose any kind of control when I'm with you."**

I frowned. I didn't want to think about them being together like that. Bella was mine, just like I was hers.

**He waited for me to respond, growing anxious when I didn't. "Are you scared?" he asked.**

**I waited for a minute to answer, so the words would be true. "No. I'm fine."**

**He seemed to deliberate for a moment. "I'm curious now, though," he said, his voice light again. "Have **_**you **_**ever… ?" He trailed off suggestively.**

I glanced over to see Bella roll her eyes. "Nice to hear you think so highly of me," she said dryly and I chuckled at her. We had had our own conversation about such things once and I had to admit that I loved the idea of being her first true lover. Edward was her first boyfriend, but he never got close to her in the way I did.

**"Of course not." I flushed. "I told you I've never felt like this about anyone before, not even close."**

**"I know. It's just that I know other people's thoughts. I know love and lust don't always keep the same company."**

**"They do for me. Now, anyway, that they exist for me at all," I sighed.**

**"That's nice. We have that one thing in common, at least." He sounded satisfied.**

**"Your human instincts…" I began. He waited. "Well, do you find me attractive, in **_**that **_**way, at all?"**

**He laughed and lightly rumpled my nearly dry hair.**

**"I may not be a human, but I am a man," he assured me.**

**I yawned involuntarily.**

**"I've answered your questions, now you should sleep," he insisted.**

**"I'm not sure if I can."**

**"Do you want me to leave?"**

**"No!" I said too loudly.**

**He laughed, and then began to hum that same, unfamiliar lullaby; the voice of an archangel, soft in my ear.**

**More tired than I realized, exhausted from the long day of mental and emotional stress like I'd never felt before, I drifted to sleep in his cold arms.**

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That was the end of the chapter," I informed everyone. We all relaxed almost imperceptibly. I don't think that was anyone's favorite chapter. None of us wanted to hear any of that, really.

I passed the book to Esme and kissed Bella. Well, here goes…


	17. The Cullens

**Chapter Seventeen: The Cullens**

Esme

**The Cullens**

I grinned as I read the title of the chapter, glancing at my newest daughter. I was almost absolutely certain that this chapter would hold Bella's first visit to our home in Forks, and the first time that I had the opportunity to meet her. She smiled back at me and nodded, clearly guessing at my thoughts.

**The muted light of yet another cloudy day eventually woke me. I lay with my arm across my eyes, groggy and dazed. Something, a dream trying to be remembered,** **struggled to break into my consciousness. I moaned and rolled on my side, hoping more sleep would come. And then the previous day flooded back into my awareness.**

**"Oh!" I sat up so fast it made my head spin.**

**"Your hair looks like a haystack… but I like it."**

All of us women frowned at Edward, while my mate and the boys chuckled. "Edward," Carlisle admonished our son in amusement. "That is not the way that you compliment a woman," he told him, in his typical stern but kind manner of chastising our children.

He grinned sheepishly and nodded, looking every bit the seventeen year old boy he had been when he was changed into the vampire he was today.

**His unruffled voice came from the rocking chair in the corner.**

**"Edward! You stayed!" I rejoiced, and thoughtlessly threw myself across the room and into his lap. **

**In the instant that my thoughts caught up with my actions, I froze, shocked by my own uncontrolled enthusiasm. I stared up at him, afraid that I had crossed the wrong line.**

**But he laughed.**

**"Of course," he answered, startled, but seeming pleased by my reaction. His hands rubbed my back.**

**I laid my head cautiously against his shoulder, breathing in the smell of his skin.**

**"I was sure it was a dream."**

**"You're not that creative," he scoffed.**

Jasper sighed mockingly. "Again with the insults," he teased playfully, making his siblings laugh, while Edward scowled. I just glanced at Carlisle, and we shared an amused look at our children's antics.

Emmett managed to stop laughing long enough to continue the joke. "I hope you plan on treating me better than that," he said, feigning a look of stern disappointment and bringing on a whole new round of laughter that even Carlisle and I got caught up in.

**"Charlie!" I remembered, thoughtlessly jumping up again and heading to the door.**

**"He left an hour ago — after reattaching your battery cables, I might add. I have to admit I was disappointed. Is that really all it would take to stop you, if you were determined to go?"**

**I deliberated where I stood, wanting to return to him badly, but afraid I might have morning breath.**

Bella interrupted quickly. "Not. A. Word," she warned them seriously. "Keep reading, Mom," she told me, shooting me a quick smile. I had to smile back at her – I loved it when my children called me 'Mom'.

**"You're not usually this confused in the morning," he noted. He held his arms open for me to return. A nearly irresistible invitation.**

**"I need another human minute," I admitted.**

**"I'll wait."**

**I skipped to the bathroom, my emotions unrecognizable. I didn't know myself, inside or out. The face in the mirror was practically a stranger — eyes too bright, hectic spots of red across my cheekbones. After I brushed my teeth, I worked to straighten out the tangled chaos that was my hair. I splashed my face with cold water, and tried to breathe normally, with no noticeable success. I half-ran back to my room.**

**It seemed like a miracle that he was there, his arms still waiting for me. He reached out to me, and my heart thumped unsteadily.**

**"Welcome back," he murmured, taking me into his arms.**

**He rocked me for a while in silence, until I noticed that his clothes were changed, his hair smooth.**

**"You left?" I accused, touching the collar of his fresh shirt.**

**"I could hardly leave in the clothes I came in — what would the neighbors think?" I pouted.**

Alice smirked. "It probably wouldn't be the best idea," she agreed.

**"You were very deeply asleep; I didn't miss anything." His eyes gleamed. "The talking came earlier."**

**I groaned. "What did you hear?"**

**His gold eyes grew very soft. "You said you loved me."**

I saw Edward and Bella grimace a little, and Emmett and Rose's frowns were just barely visible, although they were still there. I felt an instant of sadness. We all made light of the situation – and, it was true, they were all happy with their true mates, now – but it must really be very difficult for all of them to cope and adjust to these huge changes that took place, after they had been so certain of their lives.

The two couples moved slightly closer together, and I smiled at them softly before I continued reading.

**"You knew that already," I reminded him, ducking my head.**

**"It was nice to hear, just the same."**

**I hid my face against his shoulder.**

**"I love you," I whispered.**

**"You are my life now," he answered simply.**

**There was nothing more to say for the moment. He rocked us back and forth as the room grew lighter.**

**"Breakfast time," he said eventually, casually — to prove, I'm sure, that he remembered all my human frailties.**

**So I clutched my throat with both hands and stared at him with wide eyes.**

We all burst into laughter, welcoming the break in the slight tension that had formed. It was amazing how easily Bella accepted all of this, but I didn't find it so unbelievable. My daughter was meant for this life. She belonged here, and she had always been the only one who always knew that and believed in it no matter what. So, why would she fight it at all?

**Shock crossed his face.**

**"Kidding!" I snickered. "And you said I couldn't act!"**

**He frowned in disgust. "That wasn't funny."**

**"It was very funny, and you know it." But I examined his gold eyes carefully, to make sure that I was forgiven. Apparently, I was.**

**"Shall I rephrase?" he asked. "Breakfast time for the human."**

**"Oh, okay."**

**He threw me over his stone shoulder, gently, but with a swiftness that left me breathless. I protested as he carried me easily down the stairs, but he ignored me. He sat me right side up on a chair.**

**The kitchen was bright, happy, seeming to absorb my mood.**

**"What's for breakfast?" I asked pleasantly.**

**That threw him for a minute.**

**"Er, I'm not sure. What would you like?" His marble brow puckered.**

**I grinned, hopping up.**

**"That's all right, I fend for myself pretty well. Watch me hunt."**

Emmett snickered. "I knew there was a reason I always liked you," he grinned happily, and Bella smiled conspiratorially at her big brother. Despite her maturity, Bella was the most willing to play and joke with Emmett.

**I found a bowl and a box of cereal. I could feel his eyes on me as I poured the milk and grabbed a spoon. I sat my food on the table, and then paused.**

**"Can I get you anything?" I asked, not wanting to be rude.**

**He rolled his eyes. "Just eat, Bella."**

**I sat at the table, watching him as I took a bite. He was gazing at me, studying my every movement. It made me self-conscious. I cleared my mouth to speak, to distract him.**

**"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked.**

**"Hmmm…" I watched him frame his answer carefully. "What would you say to meeting my family?"**

I smiled widely. I remembered with crystal perfect clarity the first time that I met Bella, and I was excited to hear about the encounter from her point of view.

**I gulped.**

**"Are you afraid now?" He sounded hopeful.**

**"Yes," I admitted; how could I deny it — he could see my eyes.**

**"Don't worry." He smirked. "I'll protect you."**

**"I'm not afraid of them," I explained. "I'm afraid they won't… like me.**

I shook my head. "There was no way that I couldn't have loved you, sweetheart," I assured her sincerely, and she smiled.

"Thanks, Mom. I love you, too," she murmured sweetly.

"**Won't they be, well, surprised that you would bring someone… like me… home to meet them? Do they know that I know about them?"**

**"Oh, they already know everything. They'd taken bets yesterday, you know" — he smiled, but his voice was harsh — "on whether I'd bring you back, though why anyone would bet against Alice, I can't imagine. At any rate, we don't have secrets in the family. It's not really feasible, what with my mind reading and Alice seeing the future and all that."**

**"And Jasper making you feel all warm and fuzzy about spilling your guts, don't forget that."**

Jasper scowled disappointedly, a teasing light in his eyes. "I feel so loved," he shot at Edward sarcastically before looking at Bella, a wide smile on his face. "Thank you for remembering me, little sister," he drawled happily, and Alice smiled gratefully at Bella from next to him.

I knew that Jasper's gift was often overlooked, so, for Bella to remember and acknowledge his power, even when she was still human and had only heard about it very recently, it meant a lot to the two of them, I was sure.

**"You paid attention," he smiled approvingly.**

**"I've been known to do that every now and then." I grimaced. "So did Alice see me coming?"**

**His reaction was strange. "Something like that," he said uncomfortably, turning away so I couldn't see his eyes. I stared at him curiously.**

**"Is that any good?" he asked, turning back to me abruptly and eying my breakfast with a teasing look on his face. "Honestly, it doesn't look very appetizing."**

**"Well, it's no irritable grizzly…"**

Emmett cheered and I grinned at him. He never did really get over his desire to exact his revenge on the grizzly bear population – and bears, in general, really – after being attacked by the bear that ended his human life.

**I murmured, ignoring him when he glowered. I was still wondering why he responded that way when I mentioned Alice. I hurried through my cereal, speculating.**

**He stood in the middle of the kitchen, the statue of Adonis again, staring abstractedly out the back windows.**

**Then his eyes were back on me, and he smiled his heartbreaking smile.**

**"And you should introduce me to your father, too, I think."**

**"He already knows you," I reminded him.**

**"As your boyfriend, I mean."**

**I stared at him with suspicion. "Why?"**

**"Isn't that customary?" he asked innocently.**

**"I don't know," I admitted. My dating history gave me few reference points to work with. Not that any normal rules of dating applied here. "That's not necessary, you know. I don't expect you to… I mean, you don't have to pretend for me."**

**His smile was patient. "I'm not pretending."**

**I pushed the remains of my cereal around the edges of the bowl, biting my lip.**

**"Are you going to tell Charlie I'm your boyfriend or not?" he demanded.**

**"Is that what you are?" I suppressed my internal cringing at the thought of Edward and Charlie and the word boyfriend all in the same room at the same time.**

All three of my daughters shuddered at the thought. I was somewhat amused by their reactions, but I could understand that it would be uncomfortable.

**"It's a loose interpretation of the word 'boy,' I'll admit."**

**"I was under the impression that you were something more, actually," I confessed, looking at the table.**

"But I don't think you necessarily would want to tell your father that," Alice pointed out, a mischievous smile on her face.

**"Well, I don't know if we need to give him all the gory details." He reached across the table to lift my chin with a cold, gentle finger. "But he will need some explanation for why I'm around here so much. I don't want Chief Swan getting a restraining order put on me."**

**"Will you be?" I asked, suddenly anxious. "Will you really be here?"**

**"As long as you want me," he assured me.**

**"I'll always want you," I warned him. "Forever."**

We all frowned, remembering those dark months when we had all made the monumental mistake of abandoning my daughter to her fate. It was one of the worst choices we had ever made, and the pain that we had all endured because of it – but even more, the pain that Bella had been forced to live with, all because of our choice…

**He walked slowly around the table, and, pausing a few feet away, he reached out to touch his fingertips to my cheek. His expression was unfathomable.**

**"Does that make you sad?" I asked.**

**He didn't answer. He stared into my eyes for an immeasurable period of time.**

**"Are you finished?" he finally asked.**

**I jumped up. "Yes."**

**"Get dressed — I'll wait here."**

**It was hard to decide what to wear. I doubted there were any etiquette books detailing how to dress when your vampire sweetheart takes you home to meet his vampire family.**

Carlisle smiled, laughing quietly next to me. "I don't believe that they've written that one just yet," he said in amusement, and Bella sighed in mock disappointment.

**It was a relief to think the word to myself. I knew I shied away from it intentionally.**

**I ended up in my only skirt — long, khaki-colored, still casual. I put on the dark blue blouse he'd once complimented.**

**A quick glance in the mirror told me my hair was entirely impossible, so I pulled it back into a pony tail.**

**"Okay." I bounced down the stairs. "I'm decent."**

**He was waiting at the foot of the stairs, closer than I'd thought, and I bounded right into him. He steadied me, holding me a careful distance away for a few seconds before suddenly pulling me closer.**

**"Wrong again," he murmured in my ear. "You are utterly indecent — no one should look so tempting, it's not fair."**

**"Tempting how?" I asked. "I can change…"**

**He sighed, shaking his head. "You are so absurd." He pressed his cool lips delicately to my forehead, and the room spun. The smell of his breath made it impossible to think.**

**"Shall I explain how you are tempting me?" he said. It was clearly a rhetorical question.**

Rose growled quietly and Bella soothed her. I truly felt such sympathy for my eldest daughter. I wasn't sure how I would handle hearing about my Carlisle's love for another, even had the circumstances been exactly the same as Bella, Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie's.

**His fingers traced slowly down my spine, his breath coming more quickly against my skin. My hands were limp on his chest, and I felt lightheaded again. He tilted his head** **slowly and touched his cool lips to mine for the second time, very carefully, parting them slightly.**

**And then I collapsed.**

Bella groaned and hid her face in her mate's hair while her siblings laughed. Even Rose teased her gently, saying, "Well, should I be disappointed? After all, you never fainted when you kissed me!"

I decided to take pity on my daughter, choosing to simply ignore their laughter and continue reading. I was hoping to reach the point where they arrived at our home, soon.

**"Bella?" His voice was alarmed as he caught me and held me up.**

**"You… made… me… faint," I accused him dizzily.**

**"What am I going to do with you?" he groaned in exasperation. "Yesterday I kiss you, and you attack me! Today you pass out on me!"**

**I laughed weakly, letting his arms support me while my head spun.**

**"So much for being good at everything," he sighed.**

**"That's the problem." I was still dizzy. "You're too good. Far, far too good."**

Rosalie raised one eyebrow at her mate. "So, does that mean I'm not too good?" she asked, acting completely serious, making the rest of us smile at her playfulness.

To her credit, Bella didn't panic the way that some others might, and make a fool of herself or give the wrong answer. She simply smiled and answered her wife with complete conviction and sincerity. "Of course, you're far too good. The difference is that you are perfect for me, and our love is the truest of all loves. I could never be rendered helpless in any way by our love, because it only makes me stronger and builds me up, every moment that we're together."

Rosalie's eyes filled with venom tears that wouldn't fall, and she kissed Bella passionately. A lot of people might have said that it was too much, or that Bella was just saying all of that to get herself out of trouble, but all you had to do was look into her eyes to see that she meant every word.

No one said anything, allowing the couple their moment before I quietly began reading once more, Carlisle's arm wrapped firmly and lovingly around my waist.

**"Do you feel sick?" he asked; he'd seen me like this before.**

**"No — that wasn't the same kind of fainting at all. I don't know what happened." I shook my head apologetically, "I think I forgot to breathe."**

**"I can't take you anywhere like this."**

**"I'm fine," I insisted. "Your family is going to think I'm insane anyway, what's the difference?"**

**He measured my expression for a moment. "I'm very partial to that color with your skin," he offered unexpectedly. I flushed with pleasure, and looked away.**

**"Look, I'm trying really hard not to think about what I'm about to do, so can we go already?" I asked.**

**"And you're worried, not because you're headed to meet a houseful of vampires, but because you think those vampires won't approve of you, correct?"**

**"That's right," I answered immediately, hiding my surprise at his casual use of the word.**

**He shook his head. "You're incredible."**

"That you are," I said softly, looking at my baby girl with all the love I possessed. None of us could ever have imagined that any human could accept us so graciously, with nothing but fearlessness, determination, and love.

**I realized, as he drove my truck out of the main part of town, that I had no idea where he lived. We passed over the bridge at the Calawah River, the road winding northward, the houses flashing past us growing farther apart, getting bigger. And then we were past the other houses altogether, driving through misty forest. I was trying to decide whether to ask or be patient, when he turned abruptly onto an unpaved road. It was unmarked, barely visible among the ferns. The forest encroached on both sides, leaving the road ahead only discernible for a few meters as it twisted, serpentlike, around the ancient trees.**

**And then, after a few miles, there was some thinning of the woods, and we were suddenly in a small meadow, or was it actually a lawn? The gloom of the forest didn't** **relent, though, for there were six primordial cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches. The trees held their protecting shadow right up to the walls of the house that rose among them, making obsolete the deep porch that wrapped around the first story.**

**I don't know what I had expected, but it definitely wasn't this. The house was timeless, graceful, and probably a hundred years old. It was painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular and well proportioned. The windows and doors were either part of the original structure or a perfect restoration. My truck was the only car in sight. I could hear the river close by, hidden in the obscurity of the forest.**

I sighed happily. I loved that house, perhaps even more than any of the others that we had lived in. After all, it was the place where we found the final missing piece of our family, my wonderful daughter, Bella.

**"Wow."**

**"You like it?" He smiled.**

**"It… has a certain charm."**

**He pulled the end of my ponytail and chuckled.**

**"Ready?" he asked, opening my door.**

**"Not even a little bit — let's go." I tried to laugh, but it seemed to get stuck in my throat. I smoothed my hair nervously.**

**"You look lovely." He took my hand easily, without thinking about it.**

**We walked through the deep shade up to the porch. I knew he could feel my tension; his thumb rubbed soothing circles into the back of my hand.**

**He opened the door for me.**

**The inside was even more surprising, less predictable, than the exterior. It was very bright, very open, and very large. This must have originally been several rooms, but the walls had been removed from most of the first floor to create one wide space. The back, south-facing wall had been entirely replaced with glass, and, beyond the shade of the cedars, the lawn stretched bare to the wide river. A massive curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, the high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors, and the thick carpets were all varying shades of white.**

I grinned and looked at her excitedly. "You really loved it?" I asked anxiously and she laughed quietly.

"It was amazing, Mom," she reassured me, and I beamed at her. It meant a lot to me whenever anyone expressed an appreciation for my work.

**Waiting to greet us, standing just to the left of the door, on a raised portion of the floor by a spectacular grand piano, were Edward's parents.**

I inhaled excitedly and Carlisle chuckled quietly, resting his chin on my shoulder in a gesture of silent support.

**I'd seen Dr. Cullen before, of course, yet I couldn't help but be struck again by his youth, his outrageous perfection. At his side was Esme, I assumed, the only one of the family I'd never seen before. She had the same pale, beautiful features as the rest of them.**

**Something about her heart-shaped face, her billows of soft, caramel-colored hair, reminded me of the ingénues of the silent-movie era.** **She was small, slender, yet less angular, more rounded than the others. They were both dressed casually, in light colors that matched the inside of the house. They smiled in welcome, but made no move to approach us. Trying not to frighten me, I guessed.**

I smiled widely and Bella was there, next to me, when I looked up. She hugged me gently, taking a seat beside me. "I love you, Mom," she whispered.

I held her in my arms, feeling a sense of warmth and contentment wash over me, just as it always did when one of my children expressed their love for me in any way. "I love you, too, baby girl," I murmured back. It was true. No matter how long we walked this earth, Bella would always be my baby girl, my second human child – for a while, at least – and my first human daughter. After I lost my baby boy in my own human life, I never fully recovered – until Bella joined our family and allowed me to finally grieve and fully let go the way that I had been in need of for so long.

Bella settled into her place next to me after giving Carlisle a short hug of his own, and I turned back to the book.

**"Carlisle, Esme," Edward's voice broke the short silence, "this is Bella."**

**"You're very welcome, Bella." Carlisle's step was measured, careful as he approached me. He raised his hand tentatively, and I stepped forward to shake hands with him.**

**"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen."**

**"Please, call me Carlisle."**

**"Carlisle." I grinned at him, my sudden confidence surprising me. I could feel Edward's relief at my side.**

**Esme smiled and stepped forward as well, reaching for my hand. Her cold, stone grasp was just as I expected.**

**"It's very nice to know you," she said sincerely.**

**"Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too." And I was. It was like meeting a fairy tale — Snow White, in the flesh.**

**"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked, but no one answered, as they had just appeared at the top of the wide staircase.**

We all laughed, remembering Alice's entrance, though Rose and Emmett hadn't seen it for themselves. None of us were surprised by Alice's audacity, really, but we were all staggered by Bella's casual acceptance of her actions. It was only after we got to know her that we realized we really shouldn't have been.

**"Hey, Edward!" Alice called enthusiastically. She ran down the stairs, a streak of black hair and white skin, coming to a sudden and graceful stop in front of me.**

**Carlisle and Esme shot warning glances at her, but I liked it. It was natural — for her, anyway.**

Alice smiled smugly. "Thank you, Bella," she grinned at her sister.

**"Hi, Bella!" Alice said, and she bounced forward to kiss my cheek.**

**If Carlisle and Esme had looked cautious before, they now looked staggered. There was shock in my eyes, too, but I was also very pleased that she seemed to approve of me so entirely. I was startled to feel Edward stiffen at my side. I glanced at his face, but his expression was unreadable.**

**"You do smell nice, I never noticed before," she commented, to my extreme embarrassment.**

**No one else seemed to know quite what to say, and then Jasper was there — tall and leonine. **

**A feeling of ease spread through me, and I was suddenly comfortable despite where I was. Edward stared at Jasper, raising one eyebrow, and I remembered what Jasper could do.**

Jasper smiled slyly, shrugging. "Well, I wanted you to be comfortable around me," he said, his southern drawl slightly more pronounced than usual. He was clearly still feeling happy that Bella had made sure to remember his talent.

**"Hello, Bella," Jasper said. He kept his distance, not offering to shake my hand. But it was impossible to feel awkward near him.**

**"Hello, Jasper." I smiled at him shyly, and then at the others. "It's nice to meet you all — you have a very beautiful home," I added conventionally.**

**"Thank you," Esme said. "We're so glad that you came." She spoke with feeling, and I realized that she thought I was brave.**

I turned to kiss the side of her head. "You are very brave, darling," I assured her and she just shook her head.

**I also realized that Rosalie and Emmett were nowhere to be seen,** **and I remembered Edward's too-innocent denial when I'd asked him if the others didn't like me.**

**Carlisle's expression distracted me from this train of thought; he was gazing meaningfully at Edward with an intense expression. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward nod once.**

Carlisle grinned. "I'm not surprised that you noticed. I still wonder…" he trailed off, and I rolled my eyes as he obviously fell back into his thoughts and musings.

**I looked away, trying to be polite. My eyes wandered again to the beautiful instrument on the platform by the door. **

**I suddenly remembered my childhood fantasy that, should I ever win a lottery, I would buy a grand piano for my mother. She wasn't really good — she only played for herself on our secondhand upright — but I loved to watch her play.**

**She was happy, absorbed — she seemed like a new, mysterious being to me then, someone outside the "mom" persona I took for granted. She'd put me through lessons, of course, but like most kids, I whined until she let me quit.**

We all laughed at the rare example of Bella acting her age for once, though it still made my heart ache to know that my beautiful daughter had been forced to mature so quickly.

**Esme noticed my preoccupation.**

**"Do you play?" she asked, inclining her head toward the piano.**

**I shook my head. "Not at all. But it's so beautiful. Is it yours?"**

**"No," she laughed. "Edward didn't tell you he was musical?"**

**"No." I glared at his suddenly innocent expression with narrowed eyes. "I should have known, I guess."**

**Esme raised her delicate eyebrows in confusion.**

**"Edward can do everything, right?" I explained.**

We all laughed at that and Edward adopted a mock-offended air. Even I could see that he was quite arrogant at times, due to his gift, which gave him far more knowledge and power than an eternal teenager should be subjected to. That was why it was so fortunate that Bella's gift was of a mental shield. She taught him humility and not to rely so heavily on his gift, because he never knew when he may have to cope without it.

**Jasper snickered and Esme gave Edward a reproving look.**

**"I hope you haven't been showing off— it's rude," she scolded.**

**"Just a bit," he laughed freely. Her face softened at the sound, and they shared a brief look that I didn't understand, though Esme's face seemed almost smug.**

**"He's been too modest, actually," I corrected.**

The kids all snorted. "Yeah, right," they said in unison, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face at Edward's pout.

**"Well, play for her," Esme encouraged.**

**"You just said showing off was rude," he objected.**

**"There are exceptions to every rule," she replied.**

**"I'd like to hear you play," I volunteered.**

**"It's settled then." Esme pushed him toward the piano. He pulled me along, sitting me on the bench beside him.**

**He gave me a long, exasperated look before he turned to the keys.**

**And then his fingers flowed swiftly across the ivory, and the room was filled with a composition so complex, so luxuriant, it was impossible to believe only one set of hands played.**

**I felt my chin drop, my mouth open in astonishment, and heard low chuckles behind me at my reaction.**

**Edward looked at me casually, the music still surging around us without a break, and winked. "Do you like it?"**

**"You wrote this?" I gasped, understanding.**

**He nodded. "It's Esme's favorite."**

I smiled at the mention of that song. My son was a fantastic composer, and I loved to hear him play, particularly when he was in a good mood. His music was incredible.

**I closed my eyes, shaking my head.**

**"What's wrong?"**

**"I'm feeling extremely insignificant."**

**The music slowed, transforming into something softer, and to my surprise I detected the melody of his lullaby weaving through the profusion of notes.**

**"You inspired this one," he said softly.**

**The music grew unbearably sweet.**

**I couldn't speak.**

**"They like you, you know," he said conversationally. "Esme especially."**

**I glanced behind me, but the huge room was empty now.**

**"Where did they go?"**

**"Very subtly giving us some privacy, I suppose."**

**I sighed. "They like me. But Rosalie and Emmett…" I trailed off, not sure how to express my doubts.**

Rose smiled sadly and Bella squeezed my arm once before going to her mate, to soothe her. We all studiously ignored the two, and I went on reading.

**He frowned. "Don't worry about Rosalie," he said, his eyes wide and persuasive. "She'll come around."**

**I pursed my lips skeptically. "Emmett?"**

**"Well, he thinks I'm a lunatic, it's true, but he doesn't have a problem with you. He's trying to reason with Rosalie."**

"Of course I love you, Bella Bear!" Emmett spoke in a booming voice, grinning at his sister, who returned his wide smile with one of her own. The two of them were very close as siblings, despite the oddness of having started out in relationships with each other's mates.

**"What is it that upsets her?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.**

**He sighed deeply. "Rosalie struggles the most with… with what we are. It's hard for her to have someone on the outside know the truth. And she's a little jealous."**

**"Rosalie is jealous of me?" I asked incredulously. I tried to imagine a universe in which someone as breathtaking as Rosalie would have any possible reason to feel jealous of someone like me.**

**"You're human." He shrugged. "She wishes that she were, too."**

**"Oh," I muttered, still stunned. "Even Jasper, though…"**

**"That's really my fault," he said. "I told you he was the most recent to try our way of life. I warned him to keep his distance."**

**I thought about the reason for that, and shuddered.**

**"Esme and Carlisle… ?" I continued quickly, to keep him from noticing.**

**"Are happy to see me happy. Actually, Esme wouldn't care if you had a third eye and webbed feet.**

We all chuckled. "That's true, but personally I prefer the way that things worked out in reality," I commented, smiling at my children.

**All this time she's been worried about me, afraid that there was something missing from my essential makeup, that I was too young when Carlisle changed me… She's ecstatic. Every time I touch you, she just about chokes with satisfaction."**

**"Alice seems very… enthusiastic."**

"That's putting it lightly. Alice is our own personal Energizer Bunny," Emmett teased and Alice growled playfully.

**"Alice has her own way of looking at things," he said through tight lips.**

**"And you're not going to explain that, are you?"**

**A moment of wordless communication passed between us. He realized that I knew he was keeping something from me. I realized that he wasn't going to give anything away.**

**Not now.**

**"So what was Carlisle telling you before?"**

**His eyebrows pulled together. "You noticed that, did you?"**

**I shrugged. "Of course."**

"Of course," we all said in unison, smiles adorning all our faces. Bella was so observant, even when she was human, that it would have been unreasonable to expect her _not _to notice.

**He looked at me thoughtfully for a few seconds before answering. "He wanted to tell me some news — he didn't know if it was something I would share with you."**

**"Will you?"**

**"I have to, because I'm going to be a little… overbearingly protective over the next few days — or weeks — and I wouldn't want you to think I'm naturally a tyrant."**

I frowned at the mention of the three nomads: James, Victoria, and Laurent. Just the thought of them was enough to make my maternal instincts rise.

**"What's wrong?"**

**"Nothing's wrong, exactly. Alice just sees some visitors coming soon. They know we're here, and they're curious."**

**"Visitors?"**

**"Yes… well, they aren't like us, of course — in their hunting habits, I mean. They probably won't come into town at all, but I'm certainly not going to let you out of my sight till they're gone."**

**I shivered.**

**"Finally, a rational response!" he murmured. "I was beginning to think you had no sense of self-preservation at all."**

**I let that one pass, looking away, my eyes wandering again around the spacious room.**

**He followed my gaze. "Not what you expected, is it?" he asked, his voice smug.**

**"No," I admitted.**

**"No coffins, no piled skulls in the corners; I don't even think we have cobwebs… what a disappointment this must be for you," he continued slyly.**

I grimaced. "I would never let that happen," I muttered, so quietly that only Carlisle could hear, and he chuckled from beside me. He knew how I prided myself on the architecture and design of our homes.

**I ignored his teasing. "It's so light… so open."**

**He was more serious when he answered. "It's the one place we never have to hide."**

**The song he was still playing, my song, drifted to an end, the final chords shifting to a more melancholy key. The last note hovered poignantly in the silence.**

**"Thank you," I murmured. I realized there were tears in my eyes. I dabbed at them, embarrassed.**

**He touched the corner of my eye, trapping one I missed. He lifted his finger, examining the drop of moisture broodingly. Then, so quickly I couldn't be positive that he really did, he put his finger to his mouth to taste it.**

We all looked at Edward strangely and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat before I took pity on him and went back to book, without saying anything.

**I looked at him questioningly, and he gazed back for a long moment before he finally smiled.**

**"Do you want to see the rest of the house?"**

**"No coffins?" I verified, the sarcasm in my voice not entirely masking the slight but genuine anxiety I felt.**

**He laughed, taking my hand, leading me away from the piano.**

**"No coffins," he promised.**

**We walked up the massive staircase, my hand trailing along the satin-smooth rail. The long hall at the top of the stairs was paneled with a honey-colored wood, the same as the floorboards.**

**"Rosalie and Emmett's room…Carlisle 's office…Alice 's room…" He gestured as he led me past the doors.**

**He would have continued, but I stopped dead at the end of the hall, staring incredulously at the ornament hanging on the wall above my head.**

Carlisle smiled wryly. "I admit, that cross does seem to get that reaction from just about everyone who sees it," he admitted.

**Edward chuckled at my bewildered expression.**

**"You can laugh," he said. "It is sort of ironic."**

**I didn't laugh. My hand raised automatically, one finger extended as if to touch the large wooden cross, its dark patina contrasting with the lighter tone of the wall. I didn't touch it, though I was curious if the aged wood would feel as silky as it looked.**

**"It must be very old," I guessed.**

**He shrugged. "Early sixteen-thirties, more or less."**

**I looked away from the cross to stare at him.**

**"Why do you keep this here?" I wondered.**

**"Nostalgia. It belonged to Carlisle 's father."**

**"He collected antiques?" I suggested doubtfully.**

"Not exactly," my husband chuckled in amusement.

**"No. He carved this himself. It hung on the wall above the pulpit in the vicarage where he preached."**

**I wasn't sure if my face betrayed my shock, but I returned to gazing at the simple, ancient cross, just in case. I quickly did the mental math; the cross was over three hundred and seventy years old. The silence stretched on as I struggled to wrap my mind around the concept of so many years.**

**"Are you all right?" He sounded worried.**

**"How old is Carlisle?" I asked quietly, ignoring his question, still staring up.**

**"He just celebrated his three hundred and sixty-second birthday," Edward said. I looked back at him, a million questions in my eyes.**

**He watched me carefully as he spoke.**

**"Carlisle was born in London, in the sixteen-forties, he believes. Time wasn't marked as accurately then, for the common people anyway. It was just before Cromwell's rule, though."**

**I kept my face composed, aware of his scrutiny as I listened. It was easier if I didn't try to believe. **_**I would go over it all thoroughly once I was in the privacy of my own home.**_

**"He was the only son of an Anglican pastor. His mother died giving birth to him. His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves… and vampires." I grew very still at the word. **

Bella shrugged at her siblings' curious looks. "I did accept all of you, but for a while, the word itself was a little… unreal to me. To me, you were all just people."

**I'm sure he noticed, but he went on without pausing.**

**"They burned a lot of innocent people — of course the real creatures that he sought were not so easy to catch.**

**"When the pastor grew old, he placed his obedient son in charge of the raids. At first Carlisle was a disappointment; he was not quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist. But he was persistent, and more clever than his father.**

**He actually discovered a coven of true vampires that lived hidden in the sewers of the city, only coming out by night to hunt. In those days, when monsters were not just myths and legends, that was the way many lived.**

**"The people gathered their pitchforks and torches, of course" — his brief laugh was darker now — "and waited where Carlisle had seen the monsters exit into the street. Eventually one emerged."**

**His voice was very quiet; I strained to catch the words.**

**"He must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. Carlisle heard him call out in Latin to the others when he caught the scent of the mob. He ran through the streets, and Carlisle — he was twenty-three and very fast — was in the lead of the pursuit. The creature could have easily outrun them, but Carlisle thinks he was too hungry, so he turned and attacked.**

I shivered at the thought of my mate being in danger.

**He fell on Carlisle first, but the others were close behind, and he turned to defend himself. He killed two men, and made off with a third, leaving Carlisle bleeding in the street."**

**He paused. I could sense he was editing something, keeping something from me.**

**"Carlisle knew what his father would do. The bodies would be burned — anything infected by the monster must be destroyed. Carlisle acted instinctively to save his own life. He crawled away from the alley while the mob followed the fiend and his victim. He hid in a cellar, buried himself in rotting potatoes for three days. It's a miracle he was able to keep silent, to stay undiscovered.**

**"It was over then, and he realized what he had become."**

**I'm not sure what my face was revealing, but he suddenly broke off.**

**"How are you feeling?" he asked.**

**"I'm fine," I assured him. And, though I bit my lip in hesitation, he must have seen the curiosity burning in my eyes.**

**He smiled. "I expect you have a few more questions for me."**

**"A few."**

**His smile widened over his brilliant teeth. He started back down the hall, pulling me along by the hand. "Come on, then," he encouraged. "I'll show you."**

"That was the end of the chapter," I told them, handing the book to my husband and kissing his cheek lightly before snuggling into his side.


	18. Carlisle

**Chapter Eighteen: Carlisle**

Carlisle

**Carlisle**

I smiled widely, as I read that, looking at my daughter. "You named this chapter after me?" I asked amusedly.

She smirked back at me. "Well, it only seemed right," she shrugged, and I shook my head a little.

**He led me back to the room that he'd pointed out as Carlisle's office. He paused outside the door for an instant.**

**"Come in," Carlisle's voice invited.**

**Edward opened the door to a high-ceilinged room with tall, west-facing windows. The walls were paneled again, in a darker wood — where they were visible. Most of the wall space was taken up by towering bookshelves that reached high above my head and held more books than I'd ever seen outside a library.**

I looked at Bella in amusement. She had specifically requested that Esme include a room for a library for her, when we moved here. She met my look unabashedly, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. I chuckled under my breath at my youngest daughter before going on.

**Carlisle sat behind a huge mahogany desk in a leather chair. He was just placing a bookmark in the pages of the thick volume he held. The room was how I'd always imagined a college dean's would look — only Carlisle looked too young to fit the part.**

I frowned. That was unfortunate. Although, perhaps I could manage it for a short while, at a less known college somewhere… I shook off my musing for the moment, though I would certainly revisit the idea at a later date.

**"What can I do for you?" he asked us pleasantly, rising from his seat.**

**"I wanted to show Bella some of our history," Edward said. "Well, your history, actually."**

**"We didn't mean to disturb you," I apologized.**

**"Not at all. Where are you going to start?"**

**"The Waggoner," Edward replied, placing one hand lightly on my shoulder and spinning me around to look back toward the door we'd just come through. Every time he touched me, in even the most casual way, my heart had an audible reaction. It was more embarrassing with Carlisle there.**

**The wall we faced now was different from the others. Instead of bookshelves, this wall was crowded with framed pictures of all sizes, some in vibrant colors, others dull monochromes. I searched for some logic, some binding motif the collection had in common, but I found nothing in my hasty examination.**

I smiled. "To anyone who was unaware of my story, there wouldn't be a noticeable pattern," I noted. Whenever we moved, I always brought both my desk and those paintings, no matter what.

Esme squeezed my arm lightly. "They're a part of you," she murmured, just for my ears, and I met her eyes lovingly for a moment.

**Edward pulled me toward the far left side, standing me in front of a small square oil painting in a plain wooden frame. This one did not stand out among the bigger and brighter pieces; painted in varying tones of sepia, it depicted a miniature city full of steeply slanted roofs, with thin spires atop a few scattered towers. A wide river filled the foreground, crossed by a bridge covered with structures that looked like tiny cathedrals.**

**"London in the sixteen-fifties," Edward said.**

**"The London of my youth," Carlisle added, from a few feet behind us. I flinched; I hadn't heard him approach. **

I laughed quietly. "I apologize," I said with amusement. "We are all far more relaxed in our home, though I should have realized that it would make you uneasy."

Bella shook her head. "No, it was fine. I honestly wanted to get used to things like that, so that you would still be able to be just as natural and relaxed as you would have been if I hadn't been there. I wanted to get to know you all as yourselves, without you having to put on the same act for me as you did with every other human," she explained, and we all smiled at her appreciatively. My daughter was truly one of a kind, both as a human and a vampire.

**Edward squeezed my hand.**

**"Will you tell the story?" Edward asked. I twisted a little to see Carlisle's reaction.**

**He met my glance and smiled. "I would," he replied. "But I'm actually running a bit late. The hospital called this morning — Dr. Snow is taking a sick day. Besides, you know the stories as well as I do," he added, grinning at Edward now.**

**It was a strange combination to absorb — the everyday concerns of the town doctor stuck in the middle of a discussion of his early days in seventeenth-century London.**

Jasper smiled wryly. "It's definitely not your everyday conversation," he agreed.

**It was also unsettling to know that he spoke aloud only for my benefit.**

**After another warm smile for me, Carlisle left the room.**

**I stared at the little picture of Carlisle's hometown for a long moment.**

**"What happened then?" I finally asked, staring up at Edward, who was watching me.**

**"When he realized what had happened to him?"**

**He glanced back to the paintings, and I looked to see which image caught his interest now. It was a larger landscape in dull fall colors — an empty, shadowed meadow in a forest, with a craggy peak in the distance.**

**"When he knew what he had become," Edward said quietly, "he rebelled against it. He tried to destroy himself. But that's not easily done."**

I could feel Esme's pain through our connection, and I held her close to me as I read. None of my family liked hearing about this, and I was honestly a bit ashamed of my actions then.

**"How?" I didn't mean to say it aloud, but the word broke through my shock.**

**"He jumped from great heights," Edward told me, his voice impassive. "He tried to drown himself in the ocean… but he was young to the new life, and very strong. It is amazing that he was able to resist… feeding… while he was still so new. The instinct is more powerful then, it takes over everything. But he was so repelled by himself that he had the strength to try to kill himself with starvation."**

**"Is that possible?" My voice was faint.**

**"No, there are very few ways we can be killed."**

**I opened my mouth to ask, but he spoke before I could.**

**"So he grew very hungry, and eventually weak. He strayed as far as he could from the human populace, recognizing that his willpower was weakening, too. For months he wandered by night, seeking the loneliest places, loathing himself.**

**"One night, a herd of deer passed his hiding place. He was so wild with thirst that he attacked without a thought. His strength returned and he realized there was an alternative to being the vile monster he feared. **

**Had he not eaten venison in his former life? Over the next month's his new philosophy was born. He could exist without being a demon. He found himself again.**

I smiled slightly. In hunting animals, I found my salvation. Had it not been for that herd of deer, I would have continued my downward spiral. From then on, I was able to take back my sense of self and accept what had happened to me.

"I'm so glad that you discovered this way of life," my mate whispered softly, looking up at me.

I smiled down at her. "Me, too, love. Me, too," I murmured to her before I turned back to the book, the history of my newest daughter.

**"He began to make better use of his time. He'd always been intelligent, eager to learn. Now he had unlimited time before him. He studied by night, planned by day. He swam to France and —"**

**"He swam to France ?"**

**"People swim the Channel all the time, Bella," he reminded me patiently.**

**"That's true, I guess. It just sounded funny in that context. Go on."**

**"Swimming is easy for us —"**

**"Everything is easy for you," I griped.**

Bella scowled playfully. "It's a shame that I was suffering from that delusion back then," she said, adopting a sad expression.

Edward smirked arrogantly. "Oh, no. I'm quite sure that everything is still easy for me," he said loftily.

Bella just raised one eyebrow, shaking her head. We all burst into laughter when she started humming "Anything You Can Do" under her breath.

**He waited, his expression amused.**

**"I won't interrupt again, I promise."**

Edward opened his mouth, but Bella silenced him with a glare, holding up his hands in surrender. We all chuckled at their antics.

**He chuckled darkly, and finished his sentence. "Because, technically, we don't need to breathe."**

**"You —"**

**"No, no, you promised." He laughed, putting his cold finger lightly to my lips. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"**

Alice rolled her eyes. "You couldn't really expect her to stay quiet after that. That would be like going up to someone, telling them that you were a vampire, and then just walking away," she pointed out, making the entire family look at her in amusement.

Edward held up his hands in surrender. Even with his gift, he knew better than to go up against Alice – her pout was lethal.

**"You can't spring something like that on me, and then expect me not to say anything," I mumbled against his finger.**

**He lifted his hand, moving it to rest against my neck. The speed of my heart reacted to that, but I persisted.**

**"You don't have to breathe?" I demanded.**

**"No, it's not necessary. Just a habit." He shrugged.**

**"How long can you go… without breathing?"**

Emmett's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Ooh! I bet I can find out!" He grinned widely before taking a big breath before stopping his breathing. We looked at him blankly for a moment. Then, we burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Emmett," Edward laughed. "We," he started before shaking his head at his mate's childishness, a wide smile on his face. "We can go forever without breathing, so unless you plan to never breath again, you can't prove any definite time that we can go without breathing," he pointed out, chucking at Emmett's disappointed expression.

**"Indefinitely, I suppose; I don't know. It gets a bit uncomfortable — being without a sense of smell."**

**"A bit uncomfortable," I echoed.**

**I wasn't paying attention to my own expression, but something in it made him grow somber. His hand dropped to his side and he stood very still, his eyes intent on my face.**

**The silence lengthened. His features were immobile as stone.**

Jasper frowned, his forehead slightly creased. "Your moods were seriously giving me whiplash," he muttered, before his expression smoothed out in relief. "I'm really glad that, that's all over," he admitted.

**"What is it?" I whispered, touching his frozen face.**

**His face softened under my hand, and he sighed. "I keep waiting for it to happen."**

**"For what to happen?"**

**"I know that at some point, something I tell you or something you see is going to be too much. And then you'll run away from me, screaming as you go." **

I frowned. Edward and I really needed to have a talk about some of his views on our life, which were truly harmful to him. He couldn't be fully and completely happy until he learnt to love himself as he was.

**He smiled half a smile, but his eyes were serious. "I won't stop you. I want this to happen, because I want you to be safe. And yet, I want to be with you. The two desires are impossible to reconcile…"**

**He trailed off, staring at my face. Waiting.**

**"I'm not running anywhere," I promised.**

**"We'll see," he said, smiling again.**

**I frowned at him. "So, go on — Carlisle was swimming to France."**

**He paused, getting back into his story. Reflexively, his eyes flickered to another picture — the most colorful of them all, the most ornately framed, and the largest; it was twice as wide as the door it hung next to. The canvas overflowed with bright figures in swirling robes, writhing around long pillars and off marbled balconies. I couldn't tell if it represented Greek mythology, or if the characters floating in the clouds above were meant to be biblical.**

I felt my mouth drop open slightly in awe. "I could never have described that painting that way," I whispered, exchanging a look of understanding with Bella. My daughter and I often spoke of philosophy, and she never failed to amaze me with her view on things. She was the first to agree with me on a number of my thoughts about our kind… I felt truly blessed to have her as one of my children – Esme and I both did.

**"Carlisle swam to France, and continued on through Europe, to the universities there. By night he studied music, science, medicine — and found his calling, his penance, in that, in saving human lives." His expression became awed, almost reverent. "I can't adequately describe the struggle; it took Carlisle two centuries of torturous effort to perfect his self-control. Now he is all but immune to the scent of human blood, and he is able to do the work he loves without agony. He finds a great deal of peace there, at the hospital…" Edward stared off into space for a long moment. Suddenly he seemed to recall his purpose. He tapped his finger against the huge painting in front of us.**

I smiled. I did, indeed, experience a great sense of peace and joy in my place of work. However, I took far greater joy in spending time with my mate and our family.

**"He was studying in Italy when he discovered the others there. They were much more civilized and educated than the wraiths of the London sewers."**

**He touched a comparatively sedate quartet of figures painted on the highest balcony, looking down calmly on the mayhem below them. I examined the grouping carefully and realized, with a startled laugh, that I recognized the golden-haired man.**

**"Solimena was greatly inspired by Carlisle's friends. He often painted them as gods," Edward chuckled. **

I couldn't help my wry chuckle. The brothers did think themselves as good as gods, at times. Even I had to admit that their power was impressive, but I recognized that they were not the gods they saw themselves as. Still, it was amusing that Solimena painted them as such. That was one human who they actually liked.

**"Aro, Marcus, Caius," he said, indicating the other three, two black-haired, one snowy-white." Nighttime patrons of the arts."**

**"What happened to them?" I wondered aloud, my fingertip hovering a centimeter from the figures on the canvas.**

**"They're still there." He shrugged. "As they have been for who knows how many millennia. Carlisle stayed with them only for a short time, just a few decades. **

**He greatly admired their civility, their refinement, but they persisted in trying to cure his aversion to 'his natural food source,' as they called it. They tried to persuade him, and he tried to persuade them, to no avail. At that point, Carlisle decided to try the New World. He dreamed of finding others like himself. He was very lonely, you see.**

**"He didn't find anyone for a long time. But, as monsters became the stuff of fairy tales, he found he could interact with unsuspecting humans as if he were one of them. He began practicing medicine. But the companionship he craved evaded him; he couldn't risk familiarity.**

**"When the influenza epidemic hit, he was working nights in a hospital in Chicago. He'd been turning over an idea in his mind for several years, and he had almost decided to act — since he couldn't find a companion, he would create one. He wasn't absolutely sure how his own transformation had occurred, so he was hesitant. And he was loath to steal anyone's life the way his had been stolen. It was in that frame of mind that he found me.**

**There was no hope for me; I was left in a ward with the dying. He had nursed my parents, and knew I was alone. He decided to try…"**

**His voice, nearly a whisper now, trailed off. He stared unseeingly through the west windows. I wondered which images filled his mind now, Carlisle's memories or his own.**

"Both," Edward spoke up, a nostalgic smile on his face. I imagined that he was likely thinking of his mother. My first son took a great amount of comfort in Esme as his mother, but he always maintained a fierce love for his human mother, Elizabeth Masen.

**I waited quietly.**

**When he turned back to me, a gentle angel's smile lit his expression.**

**"And so we've come full circle," he concluded.**

**"Have you always stayed with Carlisle, then?" I wondered.**

**"Almost always." He put his hand lightly on my waist and pulled me with him as he walked through the door. I stared back at the wall of pictures, wondering if I would ever get to hear the other stories.**

Bella smiled contently. "I've heard them, now, and I'm glad that I did," she said happily. I felt my own mood lift slightly, as well. Esme, Bella, and I had taken a few days when she was a vampire to ourselves – the others were out hunting – to talk and bond as parents and child. That was when we told her of both mine and Esme's stories from our human and vampire lives, and Bella told us more about her life before she came to Forks. It was truly a great experience for us, helping my mate and I to bond with our newest child.

**Edward didn't say any more as we walked down the hall, so I asked, "Almost?"**

**He sighed, seeming reluctant to answer. "Well, I had a typical bout of rebellious adolescence — about ten years after I was… born…created, whatever you want to call it. I wasn't sold on his life of abstinence, and I resented him for curbing my appetite. So I went off on my own for a time."**

**"Really?" I was intrigued, rather than frightened, as I perhaps should have been.**

Edward was frowning slightly, and I read on quickly. I knew how sensitive a subject this was for my son, and I didn't want to dwell on it. I watched as Emmett held Edward closer in his arms, comforting him silently.

**He could tell. I vaguely realized that we were headed up the next flight of stairs, but I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings.**

**"That doesn't repulse you?"**

**"No."**

**"Why not?"**

**"I guess… it sounds reasonable."**

Jasper looked at Bella, shaking his head as he laughed. "You really were the strangest human I've ever come across," he told her, and she just grinned back at him.

I had to admit. It did sound reasonable, and I could understand why Bella would think so. The way that we lived was a choice, and I would not fault anyone for choosing to live by the more traditional diet of our kind. After all, for some, it was quite literally impossible to survive as we did. It said nothing of them as people. It was only the sadistic vampires like James, who I detested and even despised.

**He barked a laugh, more loudly than before. We were at the top of the stairs now, in another paneled hallway.**

**"From the time of my new birth," he murmured, "I had the advantage of knowing what everyone around me was thinking, both human and non-human alike. That's why it took me ten years to defy Carlisle — I could read his perfect sincerity, understand exactly why he lived the way he did.**

**"It took me only a few years to return to Carlisle and recommit to his vision. I thought I would be exempt from the… depression… that accompanies a conscience. Because I knew the thoughts of my prey, I could pass over the innocent and pursue only the evil. If I followed a murderer down a dark alley where he stalked a young girl — if I saved her, then surely I wasn't so terrible."**

**I shivered, imagining only too clearly what he described — the alley at night, the frightened girl, the dark man behind her. And Edward, Edward as he hunted, terrible and glorious as a young god, unstoppable. Would she have been grateful, that girl, or more frightened than before?**

**"But as time went on, I began to see the monster in my eyes. I couldn't escape the debt of so much human life taken, no matter how justified. And I went back to Carlisle and Esme. They welcomed me back like the prodigal. It was more than I deserved."**

Esme smiled at our eldest – in one way, at least – son. "Edward, we would have loved you no less if you had not chosen to return to our diet. Even if you still hunted humans this very day, we would love you no more or less than we do now," she told him, sincerity ringing in every word.

Edward shook his head silently, but I could see the gratitude and love pouring from his bright golden eyes. He nodded. "Thank you, Mom," he said quietly, a small smile on his face.

**We'd come to a stop in front of the last door in the hall.**

**"My room" he informed me, opening it and pulling me through.**

**His room faced south, with a wall-sized window like the great room below. The whole back side of the house must be glass. His view looked down on the winding Sol Duc River, across the untouched forest to the Olympic Mountain range. The mountains were much closer than I would have believed.**

**The western wall was completely covered with shelf after shelf of CDs. His room was better stocked than a music store. In the corner was a sophisticated-looking sound system, the kind I was afraid to touch because I'd be sure to break something. There was no bed, only a wide and inviting black leather sofa. The floor was covered with a thick golden carpet, and the walls were hung with heavy fabric in a slightly darker shade.**

**"Good acoustics?" I guessed.**

Edward grinned, his somber mood lifted. "Very," he said proudly.

**He chuckled and nodded.**

**He picked up a remote and turned the stereo on. It was quiet, but the soft jazz number sounded like the band was in the room with us. I went to look at his mind-boggling music collection.**

**"How do you have these organized?" I asked, unable to find any rhyme or reason to the titles.**

**He wasn't paying attention.**

**"Ummm, by year, and then by personal preference within that frame," he said absently.**

**I turned, and he was looking at me with a peculiar expression in his eyes.**

**"What?"**

**"I was prepared to feel… relieved. Having you know about everything, not needing to keep secrets from you. But I didn't expect to feel more than that. I like it. It makes me… happy." He shrugged, smiling slightly.**

**"I'm glad," I said, smiling back. I'd worried that he might regret telling me these things. It was good to know that wasn't the case.**

**But then, as his eyes dissected my expression, his smile faded and his forehead creased.**

**"You're still waiting for the running and the screaming, aren't you?" I guessed.**

Edward huffed playfully, crossing his arms and putting on a disgruntled expression. "Yes, and I'm still waiting," he glared at his sister good-humoredly. She just stuck out her tongue at him, making the rest of us laugh at their antics.

**A faint smile touched his lips, and he nodded.**

**"I hate to burst your bubble, but you're really not as scary as you think you are. I don't find you scary at all, actually," I lied casually.**

**He stopped, raising his eyebrows in blatant disbelief. Then he flashed a wide, wicked smile.**

**"You really shouldn't have said that," he chuckled.**

**He growled, a low sound in the back of his throat; his lips curled back over his perfect teeth. His body shifted suddenly, half-crouched, tensed like a lion about to pounce.**

**I backed away from him, glaring.**

**"You wouldn't."**

**I didn't see him leap at me — it was much too fast. I only found myself suddenly airborne, and then we crashed onto the sofa, knocking it into the wall. All the while, his arms formed an iron cage of protection around me — I was barely jostled. But I still was gasping as I tried to right myself.**

**He wasn't having that. **

**He curled me into a ball against his chest, holding me more securely than iron chains. I glared at him in alarm, but he seemed well in control, his jaw relaxed as he grinned, his eyes bright only with humor.**

**"You were saying?" he growled playfully.**

**"That you are a very, very terrifying monster," I said, my sarcasm marred a bit by my breathless voice.**

All of us laughed long and hard at that. It was even worse because Jasper accidentally projected our feelings back at us. Eventually, though, we calmed down and I was able to continue reading.

**"Much better," he approved.**

**"Um." I struggled. "Can I get up now?"**

**He just laughed.**

**"Can we come in?" a soft voice sounded from the hall.**

**I struggled to free myself, but Edward merely readjusted me so that I was somewhat more conventionally seated on his lap. I could see it was Alice, then, and Jasper behind her in the doorway. My cheeks burned, but Edward seemed at ease.**

**"Go ahead." Edward was still chuckling quietly.**

**Alice seemed to find nothing unusual in our embrace; she walked — almost danced, her movements were so graceful — to the center of the room, where she folded herself sinuously onto the floor. Jasper, however, paused at the door, his expression a trifle shocked. **

**He stared at Edward's face, and I wondered if he was tasting the atmosphere with his unusual sensitivity.**

Jasper smiled. "Of course," he agreed.

**"It sounded like you were having Bella for lunch, and we came to see if you would share," Alice announced.**

Everyone burst out laughing at that, taking a few more minutes to calm down again. It was so very like my daughter to say something like that, I thought fondly.

**I stiffened for an instant, until I realized Edward was grinning — whether at her comment or my response, I couldn't tell.**

**"Sorry, I don't believe I have enough to spare," he replied, his arms holding me recklessly close.**

**"Actually," Jasper said, smiling despite himself as he walked into the room, "Alice says there's going to be a real storm tonight, and Emmett wants to play ball. Are you game?"**

**The words were all common enough, but the context confused me. I gathered that Alice was a bit more reliable than the weatherman, though.**

Alice smiled mischievously. "Just a bit," she said smugly.

**Edward's eyes lit up, but he hesitated.**

**"Of course you should bring Bella," Alice chirped. I thought I saw Jasper throw a quick glance at her.**

**"Do you want to go?" Edward asked me, excited, his expression vivid.**

**"Sure." I couldn't disappoint such a face. "Um, where are we going?"**

**"We have to wait for thunder to play ball — you'll see why," he promised.**

**"Will I need an umbrella?"**

**They all three laughed aloud.**

**"Will she?" Jasper asked Alice.**

**"No." She was positive. "The storm will hit over town. It should be dry enough in the clearing."**

**"Good, then." The enthusiasm in Jasper's voice was catching, naturally. I found myself eager, rather than scared stiff.**

I frowned at the reminder of James, Victoria, and Laurent. As loath as I was to admit it, we should have simply killed all of them at once in the clearing that day. So many deaths could have been avoided…

**"Let's go see if Carlisle will come." Alice bounded up and to the door in a fashion that would break any ballerina's heart.**

**"Like you don't know," Jasper teased, and they were swiftly on their way. Jasper managed to inconspicuously close the door behind them.**

**"What will we be playing?" I demanded.**

**"You will be watching," Edward clarified. "We will be playing baseball."**

**I rolled my eyes. "Vampires like baseball?"**

**"It's the American pastime," he said with mock solemnity.**

"That was the end of the chapter," I informed everyone, taking the book to Alice before I returned to my seat.

I pulled my mate into my lap and she laid her head on my shoulder as we settled in comfortably, waiting for our daughter to begin reading. "I love you," I murmured into her ear.

She kissed the side of my neck. "As I love you," she told me affectionately.

I sighed happily. It was nice to spend this time together as a family. I listened contently as Alice began reading, taking us deeper into our past with my newest daughter…


End file.
